8.

-HER-

Instead of going off, the intensity of the fire increases, surrounding me. I try to scream but no sound comes out of my mouth. I feel trapped and helpless.

I think this is my end.

I feel the energy drain off my body slowly, and black spots start to appear in my vision. My legs feel as if they’re made of jelly and soon, I collapse on the ground while the flames surrounding me rise higher.

Suddenly, I hear screaming and footsteps. I see mom enter the kitchen, her eyes wide, terror clearly visible in them. What surprises me is that while she steps over the fire, nothing happens to her. As soon as her eyes landed on me, she comes rushing to me, kneeling by my side.

“Andrew!” I hear her call for dad before I slip into a deep sleep. Am I going to be okay? Is this my end? If it is then I am happy because I don’t have to celebrate my 18th birthday and deal with not having a mate for a lifetime.

~

“She’s a hybrid.” I hear someone say and shortly feel something wet on my forehead. I try to open my eyes but they seem heavy. I take a deep breath and it feels tiring. Breathing feels tiring. I feel so tired. It feels as if there’s nothing left in me. I feel as if my whole body is paralyzed.

Collecting all the energy that’s left in my body, I open my eyes to find everything blurred. I blink a couple of times, the remaining energy draining of my body due to this small action and wait until my vision focuses.

By the color of the walls, I realize that I am in my room. I am lying on my bed, covered with my comforter while dad sits near the bed head, changing the wet cloth on my head. I see mom standing on the other side of the bed along with my sisters.

All the 4 pairs of eyes trained directly on me.

“But how?” Phoebe asks.

“Your mom was a hybrid.” Dad answers and even though I don’t have enough energy left in my body, my head snaps towards mom and my eyes go wide. I never knew mom was hybrid. All this time, I thought that the concept of hybrids was just some made up shit. According to legends, hybrids are cursed wolves. As a punishment for committing grave crimes, the moon goddess cursed the wolves with such power that would consume themselves.

“I thought hybrids did not exist.” Grace speaks. Dad shakes his head as he changes the wet cloth on my head with another one.

“They do. Of you three, Nefret got my hybrid genes.” Mom speaks; her vibrant blue eyes trained on me.

“Well, Nefret got most of your features.” Phoebe speaks and I roll my eyes for the hundredth time on this. I’ve heard this lot of times that I look just like my mother. Which is kind of true given that my sisters have silver hair and eyes while I don’t. My sisters inherited most of my dad’s feature while I got mom’s.

“Though, I never expected her to be a hybrid.” Mom speaks while looking deep in thought. It takes me a moment to realize that she’s talking about me being a hybrid. I don’t know how to feel about this. Many people say that being a hybrid is a curse while some people say that it’s a gift. There’s a lot of speculation on this concept. Since I don’t know much about being a hybrid, I don’t know whether to be happy or sad.

“Why?” Grace asks eagerly. She’s looking at me oddly. I can’t really decipher the expression decorating her face but I can tell one thing by the look in her eyes that she’s jealous.

Her question hangs in the air unanswered and I see mom and dad exchange a look. They seem to be having a deep conversation through the mind link.

“Let her rest. Go back into your rooms.” Dad says getting up and I see Phoebe and Grace leave my room but not before Grace throws me a jealous glare. I roll my eyes at her antics and soon feel sleep creep up my eyes, pulling me into the depths of unknown dreams and darkness.

~

I felt a weight crushing my chest. No matter how hard I tried to breathe, my lungs denied to let the air fill them. I was chocking and my body seemed stiff like a stick. I tried to breathe again but failed.

I felt small beads of sweat cover my forehead while cool air brushed my skin making me shiver. I tried to breathe, I tried to open my eyes but I couldn’t. I wanted to breathe so badly. I wanted to know where I was. I couldn’t feel anything.

My whole body seemed numb. I couldn’t move my legs or hands. What’s happening to me?

Suddenly, I heard someone chuckle.

“Look at her, how pathetic.” A cool, raspy voice spoke.

“She thought I won’t notice.” The raspy voice said laughing. I heard another high pitched voice laugh along with the raspy one.

“She’s the one who stole it, didn’t she?” The high pitched voice asked. It sounded sickly sweet and evil. I wanted open my eyes and see the owner of the voice.

“Yes. She stole fire and I shall punish her for it!” The raspy voice spoke with anger latched to it and suddenly, I wanted to run. I wanted to disappear.

“Let’s see what we can do with her.” The high pitched voice spoke and I heard a chilling laugh...

My eyes snap open and I sit up with a jolt. I feel sweat trickle down my forehead. I feel hot again and I throw the comforter away. Chilling cold air hits my skin and I shiver. I was having a nightmare and it was really terrible. I am used to nightmares but this nightmare was different. It was so vivid; it felt as if it’s happening to me in reality.

Suddenly, I hear a strange crackling sound and look around my room to find a thin layer of ice cover the walls of my room.

What is happening?

Even though the faint moonlight was illuminating my room through the frozen window, my room seemed dark especially that certain corner of my room where my bookshelf is kept. It seems exceptionally dark there and the temperature in my room continues to drop lower and lower.

Suddenly, I see a shadow rise high in the dark corner and I freeze. I try to focus my vision in the darkness but my werewolf sight is not helping me at all in this situation. After some moments, I see an outline of a figure and see the figure step out of the shadows.

My blood runs cold at the sight before me.

Standing in front of me was a familiar figure that I thought to be just a part of my delusion. My breath hitches and I feel my heart rate rise in my chest. I pull the comforter to my chest while my eyes kept glued to the figure standing at the foot of my bed.

I feel a surge of energy overpower me, its source- the dark figure in front of me. I think of screaming for help but my voice seems to be stuck in my throat.

“W...Wh- who are y-you?” I ask, burying myself under the comforter while wishing that whoever it is to go away. Much to my despair, I hear a familiar voice answer my question.

“Arles.”

Shit.

A shiver runs down my spine as his voice booms in my head and I squeeze my eyes shut wishing him to disappear. Suddenly, I feel my comforter disappear along with the warmth that it offered. The freezing night wind hits my skin and goosebumps erupt all over it. Adrenaline courses through me and my heart beat quicken. I raise my head to look at the tall figure standing at the foot of my bed again.

“Forgot me so quickly?” He asks slyly and I gulp loudly, moving back in my bed till my back touched the wall.

“N..no.”

“Good. I have three tasks for you and you must complete them.” He says moving around my bed. It surprised me to see him move gracefully, without even making a sound even after having such a large and heavy physic.

“I am not doing anything.”

“Too bad. I don’t take a-“suddenly, he is on my bed, leaning in front of me, holding me by my chin, “No for an answer.” I feel a scream rising up my throat but dying in my mouth. My heart beats skyrocket through the ceiling and my breath hitches at his sudden action. His touch seems rough and cold.

Being so close to him, I feel so cold and scared. It’s as if he’s made of ice and the dangerous amount of energy oozing off him isn’t labeling him as friendly either.

“Your first task is ...”