Chapter 1: For Her

Chapter 1: For Her

"To lift the curse, the forgotten must be remembered." I was tapping my sharp, velvet-red, polished nails on the surface of the crystal table as I stared monotonously at these folks talking in front of me. I don't care about their plan, but my father asked me to. This is for him, to save him; if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be here listening.

"She's weak; how can she even remember a thing all by herself? Her instinct always goes to wanting to be protected and spoon-fed. Now, to make your plan more effective, why don't we put a little spice? Like giving hints or clues for her to trigger her memories? What do you think?" I wanted to be praised by Azriel for that, and I was waiting for him to agree, but it didn't happen. He remained silent. Immediately, my eyebrows creased because of it. Why can't he appreciate me even just once?

"That's a good idea, M'lady." Calum agreed instead, which made my brows crease even worse.

 

"We will hurt Agatha? Even though she doesn't even remember, we know she still loves Lucien. Even if she goes back to the world and she's gone over and over again, she loves Lucien." Azriel's voice was firm and dark, yet I could still notice the hint of pain and sadness from it.

 

"We have no choice; they are both hurting Daddy; they need a little more sacrifice to get the ending that they want. If we don't do that, everything will mess up, and it will be too late for us. I can't afford to lose another member of my family. . ” I explained sincerely this time. Calum nodded again, together with Marty. Azriel just stares at me like he was analyzing my words.

 

"So, how will we start?" I breathed a sigh of relief at what he said. So I stood up to tell them the whole plan. I consulted my father, Lucien, about this, and he permitted me.

 

"Since the plan is to lure the council to buy us time to trigger those who killed my mother before to expose themselves, he would expose Agatha whom he disguised as the mortal Agatha. And when they are in action that's when the chase begins, my Father will bring her here together with you, and while we are with her we will do, act, or show her things that have a part of her or her past. I started as I stared at their faces, not their eyes. . . I can never hold eye contact with anyone. . . Unless it was Azriel. Only to him did I stare at him because it was enticing. Those iris eyes were deep and I love them so much. When I was satisfied enough with the sight of them I immediately averted my gaze.

 

"So, we will hide everything from her and let her figure things out?" I nodded. Exactly. That's what the enchantress told Daddy: to be able to regain his lost power and strength, my mom should remember him before the eclipse; if not, my dad would die. That's the consequence of what he did just to make sure my mom would come back to us. Those sacrifices he made just for my mom to live—a kind of love he could only give. That should not go to nothing. Although I was so angry with dad, I still loved him; he kept me; he protected me. Even though I didn't feel it often, I knew he was protecting me, so he kept me here hidden.

No one knows who I am; no one knows that I am Lucien and Agatha's daughter. I was born in secret. That wouldn't have happened if Mom didn't just die.

After the meeting, I left and returned to my house. I was busy removing the gloves I was wearing when I felt someone's presence and piercing stares behind me. I didn't even need to know who it was, because I knew him right away. I stayed back and stared at the wall in front of me.

"Did you forget what I told you?" Gradually I turned to face him and leaned against the nightstand; he jolted and stood there stiffed. He had this deep and stern look, melting me softly, but I didn't show him that.

"The plan, are you sure that will help?" So, it's about the plan.

"Yeah, why? You don't trust me?"

"How can I trust a daughter who hates her mother?" My jaw clenched. Again, I felt that thing. That feeling is the reason why I bit the inside of my cheek until I felt it bleed. I stared at Azriel.

"Maybe I hate her, but I still want her to remember, all for my father. I am not that bad, Azriel." I don't know why, but my voice cracked the reason why I immediately turned my back on him and walked inside my kitchen to make myself a cold drink. I breathed a sigh of relief for no apparent reason, and the heavier it got when he followed.

"Can I go to your house? I'll sleep there," I asked as I looked at him. He doesn't look at me, but what I do. I finished making the juice and divided it into two before reaching out to him, which he accepted.

"I'm not coming home right now." My forehead twitched, and I leaned against the sink.

"Why?" He avoided thinking.

"I'll stay in Crescent; I am waiting for Agatha." My attempt at drinking stopped. Only a glass remains between my lips. He said that as if it were nothing, as if I had never been hurt. I am aware that it hurts me; I just don't feel the pain. Or maybe I just don't know how to explain, or I just can't say that because, in reality, I don't know the true feeling of pain. I made myself so strong and numb to not feel any pain, and I succeeded.

He quickly drank the juice and laid the glass on the sink right next to me. I smelled his fragrance and almost made my mind slip away—not until he walked near the door and stopped.

"I'm going now; be careful here." He then turned his back on me as I clung to the glass and quickly broke it in my hand. I didn't even notice the tightness of my grasp there; I could feel the broken pieces pierced my flesh as my blood started to ooze; they dripped down the floor as I was completely stilled. I don't feel anything. Nothing.

"Lilianna!" He didn't make it to leave because before he could get out, he heard the breaking sound of the poor glass covered by my hand. He violently turned in my direction, and his eyes grew wider in the sight of me. He held my hand while I remained silent. I was just amazed at his one by one taking the broken pieces that had pierced into my hand. Why? It will heal. It doesn't hurt at all. But. .    .    Is it wrong to think of hurting myself just to see that worry on his face? I'm probably crazy, but I want to see it again. Because I know, that's really for me. Not because of my mother, but because he's worried about me and that I am hurt. Even though I am not. It just blew, but I didn't get hurt.

"What are you even thinking?!" He scolded me. I guess he's been scolding me for a while now; I just don't understand because I'm thinking too deeply.

He wiped away the blood from my hand as it slowly healed. He even held my hand to see the wounds there, which immediately lost the heat I felt from his palms.

"Your mom will be worried if ever something happens to you; you have to stay safe." Maybe I was being delusional a while ago. Damn! Why would I even think that he worries about me alone? Of course, it's my mom again. He always has his way to slap me with the truth. He always has his way of waking me up from my dream.

"Just leave; I'm not hurt." His deep eyes stared at me, but I just averted my gaze. I got a dustpan and mop to clean up the mess I made.

"Lilianna, I am sincere about looking after you. I care for you. You're important to me. But I can't see you that way. The way you want me to. And you know, we're forbidden. You're for vampires and I am for werewolves." No, we can do something about that law. I can break it if you tell me to do it, if you would fight with me. But no, you're forcing me to stop. I didn't look at him until he's finally gone.

My jaw clenched again as I shut my eyes firmly and screamed in anger. My breathing becomes harsh because of rage growing in my chest. 

I couldn't fathom the reality that the only rival I have in his life is my mother.