When I stepped into the room reserved for Laura’s medical practice, the first thing I noticed was the mild tension that assailed the room. Laura wasn’t comfortable with the boys-at least it was obvious to me-she was only here because she loved her job. When I came in, however, they all turned to look at me, including Adam who was lying with his back on the same bed I had spent months in. “Dora, you are back?” I nodded to Laura’s question, gesturing with my head at Daniel who wasn’t sporting his usual smirk, not until I indicated his involvement with my walk home. “I came with him. He told me about the matter. Are you okay?” Laura nodded, understanding what I was talking about. She will be fine with treating the boys who had made me this way. To think that we had talked and laughed about this, during the night that the Queen had paid me a visit, the night I had told my family everything, and it was happening now. What a coincidence. “How much longer till you are done?” I asked,
I inhaled deeply, then exhaled. I repeated it for the second time. I repeated for the third and the fourth time. Yet, I couldn’t concentrate. My mind was in chaos. My mind was here and there, on my family, on the Lycan boys who had taken residence in the Queen’s palace for the weekend, on the woman in front of me, on the Queen who hadn’t said a word to me since I came, only that I took a breath. I’ve been taking breaths, trying to center myself but to no avail. My mind just refused to cooperate with my commands. My significant other was also absent. We had been talking freely, on our way to the Queen’s place this morning for the training—or was it punishment?—and then suddenly she had stopped speaking as I stepped into the compound. All efforts to invite her out were to no avail. I knew, however, that she was there, on the surface. I could feel her waiting to strike if the Queen made any wrong move. If I would take the guess now, I would say that my significant other wasn’t on goo
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,
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
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
"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,
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
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
As I walked away from Adam, my mind spun with confusion and frustration. However, I hadn't gone far when his strong grip closed around my arm, pulling me back into his embrace. My heart pounded erratically, torn between the comfort of his touch and the turmoil within me."You're doing a stupid thing," I muttered, trying to pull away, but he held me firmly. His eyes searched mine, pleading for understanding.“I know you mentioned that your hatred stemmed from the wicked activities of my brothers and I. And even though I have no recollection of what you were talking about, the past twenty minutes has shown that we can be friends. We can be much more. I’m sure I’m not the only one feeling the tension between us.”I shook my head in denial. “I don’t know what you are talking about, Adam.”Adam piqued an eyebrow, and enclosed me in his arms. There was no distance between our lips. “You promised not to touch, unless I asked…” I grasped for the last straw left, sighing in relief when his ha
Staying close to Adam on the tree, I couldn't help but breathe in his scent. It was intoxicating, making my head swim. I fought against the urge to press my lips to his neck; the desire was strong, but I knew I had to maintain control. I also knew that we couldn't just be friends; not with this much tension between us. I sensed Adam's heart racing, even though he tried to hide it, to still it. His feelings for me were undeniable. He was feeling the same way I was feeling.Then, he made it worse, by swerving to look at me. His words which had been on the tip of his tongue—for he had turned to speak to me—got lost entirely. He just stared at me, stared at my lips intensely. And when he moved tentatively to close the distance between our lips, I gave no indication that I wanted out. Well, because I wanted in… But then the Queen came into the clearing, catching my attention. So, instead of sinking into the goodness that was Adam, I drew myself away from the romantic suspense, and point
"Congratulations Dora. You really did well tonight." I shook a hand.“Congratulations Dora. I hope you win.” I shook another hand.“Congratulations Pretty Dora.” I maintained the bland smile on my lips, and shook another hand.“Congratulations Dora. Don’t let them push you down! You hear?” I nodded at the more than hundredth person that had met and shook hands with me. My hands were getting sore and sweaty now.Couldn’t they settle for waves? I wondered, gesturing at Diana with my eye, that she extricated me from the seat where I had been asked to stay in, to shake hands with those who were pleased with my success. There were so many unfamiliar faces I had to shelve into a part of my memory for remembrance. No member of the Queen's family had come to congratulate me, however, not even Raul. I wasn't sure how to feel about his choice. I had thought he would have a better understanding. Seemed he was one that kept grudges. He should keep up with that. I might blow his head off should h
It was a crazy deduction to make, not minding that the fact was staring at me from the mirror. I looked like the first Queen, from the color of my eyes to the angular line of my face. Could it be that…? "Dora! Oh my goodness! What did you do? How did you…" Laura spoke finally, finding her voice; her words dragging my attention to her. When I turned from the mirror, she was in front of me. She checked out in awe, the studs on my gown, the effervescence of golden light that surrounded me; I had thought I was the only seeing it, but it was seen by my family. My significant other had really outdone herself. 'You should tell me your name already…' I couldn't keep addressing her as my 'other.' 'Call me El, then.' El? What manner of name was that? It sounded like something that just fell from her mouth at that moment. But El was better than 'other.' 'Okay, El. Thank you.' "Dora, you look otherworldly." Diana spoke next, her eyes shining with amazement. Slowly, she made her way to me,
Today was for the beauty contest. The contest for physical beauty. I was currently in one of the back rooms of the hall that had been chosen for the event, for the runway. Today was Wednesday. And for the past two days, Levina had really gone all out to make me win. I wouldn't know if her efforts had paid off until the results were out. Currently I was being fussed over by both Laura and Levina, while Diana and Peter sat on an L chair watching us, or rather watching them fix my make up. I would soon be called out to walk the runway. "Laura, be calm. You will be done with making me up on time." I tried to quiet the noise in Laura's head. She had never stopped blaming herself because she had arrived late, courtesy of being involved in the Queen's experiment; something I wasn't privy to yet. "But you will be called soon…" She pointed out, however, she was calmer now, she breathed easier now. However, she was right. I would be called soon.Even though I was the last person on the list
Today was Monday. The beginning of the week that had been been chosen for the contest. The school buzzed with excitement at that knowledge—students chattering in the hallways, because teachers were nowhere to be seen. There were no lessons either, except magic classes. All efforts were geared toward the contest, either winning the contest, or campaigning for the contest’s contestants.But my mind was far from the festivities. I watched from the sidelines as Levina, ever the supportive friend, handed out flyers urging students to vote for me. Her enthusiasm was infectious, but I couldn't muster the same excitement.Instead, my thoughts wandered back to Adam and his unexpected visit two nights ago. His presence had shaken me to the core, stirring emotions I had long buried beneath layers of fear and uncertainty. I replayed the moment he stood in my room, the moment his eyes searched mine with a tenderness that made my heart race, the moment he ravaged my neck with his lips. I recalled
Noah sighed at my question; the first sign that showed he was aware of my presence. But Adam and Daniel remained as they were. Noah’s sigh spoke of irritation. I hated it."If you are so irritated with me, Noah, then take your half baked self and leave with your people. Why do you even bother to come here when you know how selective I am with people?" I questioned, folding my arms across my chest, wondering what happened to the fear from before. My moods were similar to those exhibited by females during their menstruation period. Noah gave me no response, not even a glance. He just stared ahead, into space. I hated to be ignored, but I will be caught dead before I admitted that, or reflect that in my face.I looked at Claire. She was just staring at me blankly. "Who the hell are you? Daniel told me the assumptions you had made about them the last time they were here."Instantly Adam and Noah glared at their brother who tried not to squirm under their gazes.Well well well. I see w
As Levina announced that my old friend was here to see me, my heart sank like a stone in water, only because I knew that if Naomi was here, then the triplets were already at the Queen's palace. Before I gave into my fright mode, I noticed that Levina's eyebrow was piqued; she couldn't believe that I had another friend, especially from the pack."Do you know her? Is she your friend?" The emphasis on friends spoke of her unbelief and mild jealousy. This would be the first. Levina is jealous over friendships, but now magic?I gave a slow nod.She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, they are waiting by the counter?""They?" Raul asked, echoing my thoughts. They had come with Naomi to this place? Daniel must have been their director then.Fear gripped me instantly, squeezing my chest so tight I could barely breathe. The memories flooded back without hesitation– the cruel words, the relentless bullying that had haunted me for so long, despite being kept at bay by my sense of 'I have magic now,
Levina darted her eyes between I and Raul, wondering if it was a good choice to leave the drama that was about to unfold. When she stood up, I was sure that she had made the choice to hear a drama she wanted to happen, from me; for if she chose to stay, it might not happen. It amused me. I watched, keeping the amusement away from my face, as she sauntered away from me, to the door. She was about to leave when Raul suddenly called her back, drawing my attention to him for the first time since he had come into the store room. "What's my mother delivery doing here?" It was then I realized that I was still squatting by the carton. Oh god. I mentally palmed my head, since doing that physically would only toughen the uncertain situation we were already in. How do I convince Raul that I had not touched the carton? "I don't know. We had been offloading the cartons when we had seen it." Levina's confidence was something to be envied. Raul looked at her, and then at me. I had stood up imm