"Never mind," I muttered, rolling up the painting. This wasn't something ordinary for the layman to understand. "Why is Gertrude with you?""Gertrude?" Picasso asked, confusion appearing on his face. "What Gertrude?""Gertrude, the little girl that was here. Agnes sister.""As I have said to you before, I do not know Agnes and there's no Gertrude. The only little girl here is my daughter— hold on, did she tell you her name is Gertrude?"I raised my eyebrows at him and said nothing. He continued. "She must have told you her name is Gertrude. She usually tells that to strangers just like the man here the other day.""How interesting," I mumbled. Gertrude had told me that she was the only one who remembered what had happened. Picasso's words only confirmed my suspicions that Agnes's mother was more powerful than anyone knew. Could she have possibly bewitched so many people? "I'm sure it was for safety reasons," I smiled. "What an intelligent young child you have raised.""I suppose," he
AdriannaThe activities of the day had exhausted all my energy. I went to my room but couldn't shake off the eerie feeling that crept over me, especially after that encounter with the strange man, I left the door slightly open and allowed the torches lighting the underground shelter to pierce the room through the door. The beam of light from the fire highlighted the orange shade of the carpet and made the shadow of the furniture extended on the floor clearer. However the sight and feel of this serene environment; it does not protect me.I sat down on a chair, massaging my head as if to wash away a headache that seemed to have settled in me all day. I could feel the drawings that adorned the two arms of the chair cutting into my skin but I knew that everything was just in my head. I sigh, surrounded by the stench of burning incense that filled the room but no amount of it could help calm my frayed nerves.As I closed my eyes to get some rest, the door slammed shut, making the feeling o
Drusus POVIt was that monster, war, which just went and gnawed on the last morsel of Ghysem and the Southern Pack, oozing into all crevices, not leaving any single corner untouched. War—with scalding hot breath that charred everything to ruin, lives left shattered in its wake. I fought up front: my sword cleaving through chaos, my heart burning with ever greater resolve. The weight of my armor crushed upon my shoulders; heavier upon my soul was the weight of leadership.The whole thing blended into one fussy memory of the last days: the screams of the fallen, clashing steel upon steel, the hefty stench of death in the air. I remember vividly when we fought above the underground shelter, where our forces clashed with the Army of the Southern Pack that had settled there.Where its waters ran red from the blood, now churned and raged as a deathly torrent; heavy in iron and decay, playing an eternal macabre symphony inside my head.I remember, as distinctly as if it happened yesterday, h
Theophilus POVIt was almost as if this warren of tunnels did not know about the pandemonium above. Stone hallways continued on, turning this way and that, with some small corridors ill-lit by an infrequent torch. Every step was muffled, with its echo ringing off cold, wet walls. The air was heavy with damp earth, and there wafted through it an undertone of smoke from far-off impromptu kitchens scattered through the labyrinth beneath the ground. Those shelters were much more than safety; they were our lifeline in this infinite war—a tenuous refuge against the pounding attacks of the Southern Pack.My wife, Moana, followed with practised stealth behind me. Her steps, when they came, were little more than a soft whisper against the worn stone floor. Comforting, yet the utmost utility in possession, was the very thought of it. She would be capable of maintaining the fragile balance of our hidden world, well experienced as she was, now that we moved through the narrow paths. I tried to sp
Tom's POVIn the evening, illuminated by the light from the night sky, the moonlight was working through the thicket of trees and created an eerie light on the forest floor. My team of shapeshifters and I had been lying low, our ears pricked up for the slightest squeak or crunch of leaves. The night breeze was chill with a hint of the pine woods and the earth. The night could not have been more suitable for an attack.With the creeping sound of footsteps coming closer, we prepared for the ambush. A group of southern soldiers stepped out of the woody area, their whispers hanging in the air about their further actions. Instantly, we jumped at it without the blink of an eye. The sound of the clash of their steel and the shouts of men, surprise and pain interrupted the silence of the night. It was a short fight but intense and the team lost all of its members on the forest ground.This has been the team that their captain Volkov had sent.We acted fast, pulling the bodies to a secluded ar
Drusus POVThe sound of the swords clashing was ringing in my ears as I moved through the nearing dense thickets of the reinforcement forces. Adrenaline rushed through my veins, I felt it coursing through my body. Clenching the hilt of the sword in my hand I use it to attack soldiers from the Southern pack mercilessly. Most of them were no match for me.The smell of smoke and sweat filled the air, and as I breathed them in I was reminded of the game we were in. To kill or to be killed.Their growls and roars are that of anger towards me and my soldiers, nonetheless, I don't waiver. I advance, being blinded by the rage of the battle.“Forward!” I cried out loud and the soldiers followed in battle charging more into combat. The fire light which came as the result of the burning timber cast strong shadows on the firm faces of my companions whose eyes gleamed with blood thirst and vengeance. We were true warriors and the sparks of the battles we had to go through made us stronger. Nothin
Agnes POVWhen the night was over I woke up with a splitting headache and blurred vision. The floor was cold, solid, and dry unlike the warm comfortable arms of the sleepy effect that belonged to the tranquilizer I had just been administered. The mist in my brain cleared after a moment and I could see that I was not by myself. Glancing to the side a little, I noticed Adrianna sitting next to me and she looked as white as a sheet with eyes rounded in fear.“Adrianna,” I said hoarsely as I could barely muster enough voice in me. “What happened?”She looked into my eyes and then kept quiet. Her anger even without words weighed a ton more than the silence that oppressed the entire room. In beautiful black eyes, fear and confusion were written but she did not utter a word, her voice seemed to have been taken away from her.Almost instantly, the door opened and Audrey entered the room with her sickening laughter ringing off the stone walls. ”Oh, how touching!” she grinned, rolling her eyes,
Adrianna's POV"I guess I should be happy," she laughed through her tears and then sniffed. "That Adrianna is finally at my mercy, but I'm not."Curiously, I asked. "Why?""Then it means I'm weak," she chuckled. "And I'm letting the enemy win, I'm letting Audrey take control of me."She paused, changing her sitting position for the thousandth time. She did not seem to be comfortable with her sitting position. "I understand you the most Adrianna," she said with a friendly smile."No you don't," I said sharply, fighting my tears.Agnes was relentless. "Just like you, my family betrayed me as well. Who do you think sold me into slavery?" She asked.I didn't respond to her. "My mother told me to make the sacrifice for my siblings. My stepfather was the one who sold me and my mother watched him take me away.""And look at you now," I scoffed with an eye roll. "Don't try to act like you understand me," I snapped at her. "Oh please!" Annoyance flashed in her eyes. "You act like you have se