RAFAEL. ONE WEEK EARLIER.“Veronica” The whole room fell silent after my words and there, my grim eyes met hers. Seated by the edge of the bed, she raised her face to me and as if expecting what my next words were, she heaved a sigh.A sigh between a scoff and really just a dark chuckle before burying her face back into her hands.“We need to talk” I freed the handle of the door, closing it behind me and during the brief pause, I could almost hear the stomping of her heart.“This isn’t working” I knew I had to rip the bandaid off and the next time Veronica looked to me, a tear dropped from her eyes. “You think?” She shrugged her shoulders.“After I find out the way that I did that you got another woman pregnant, you still come to me and tell me that it isn’t working” There was a crack in her voice as she stood. “Well no shit” She turned away.“Kayla has…”“Has always been there?” She snapped back. “She’s always been there and you think I didn’t know. You think I didn’t see the way yo
KAYLA.I narrowed my eyes in the distance, taking a deep breath as I let go of the arrow. The sharp end pierced through the air at such a high velocity, striking into a rabbit that lurked by the woodside. The scent of the forest was fresh in my nose and the wind was in the trees.Hearing the light shriek of pain from the animal, I finally opened my eyes and a smile crept up to my lips. Perhaps, it was the single moment where I wasn’t burdened by the million thoughts that raced through my mind. But alas, it only lasted for such a short time.I had come out here to clear my head and release some energy like Lucien had taught me but today, I’d run alone. It only worked for a few seconds before I was yet again consumed by my thoughts and everything that had happened over the past couple of days. “Let me go!” Immediately April’s face flashed behind my eyes and the sound of her screaming and yelling pierced through my ears. “Let me go” She screamed as the cell opened and about two guards t
KAYLA.“The crystal is what they call an amethyst, but this one is a little different.”“It could have been doped with something by the witches since a very long time, designed to only recognize the chosen ones” Lucien said and it had been half an hour since we got back home but there was still an arch between my eyes.He’d only come back after wearing on some clothes, more determined to prove all of this to me. But let it be known that, it would take more than a century old book about hybrids and supernatural for it to really sink in.It wasn’t hard to believe that hybrids existed, it was just hard to believe that I was one, especially being told my whole life that I was nothing and even worse, I will still amount to nothing. And there was no one for me to ask because the only other person that could tell me the truth was my mother. “The chosen one?” I echoed after him, reaching across the robe I wore.“In this case, we’ll just look at it like hybrids.”“For me to be one, my blood h
KAYLA.Immediately I stormed through the door, April rose to her feet and Rafael alongside Gerald and the rest of the guards were already waiting. She exchanged callous glances around the room as I clinched to the bar.“You wanted to see me?” Optimistic that she was finally ready to tell the truth, I asked but her eyes were dazing and restless. “Uhm, Rafael can you give us some room?” I whispered back at him and with just a commanding stare, he ordered everyone else besides Gerald out of the room. Even he took a step back to stand beside the door, leaving just a safe distance between April and I.Upon his departure, she heaved a deep sigh through her lips and her gaze appeared to be utterly broken.“I’m so sorry” Was the first thing she whispered. Her hair was a drenched mess, falling across her sweaty, bruised face and her hands were still bound by chains. It took a lot for me to see my sister that way because even with everything she’d done, I couldn’t still bring myself to hate he
KAYLA.For more than thirty minutes, I stood still in front of the door. Pacing around the corridor and each time I tried to raise my hands to knock, my stomach would twist into a knot, forcing me to draw back. The rest of the castle was darned with a creeping silence and with Ingrid and Carlos taking shelter in the cottage, we were the only ones left.Just Rafael and I, and the hundred feet tall castle.I could hear his foot against the ground each time he stood, and the fluttering of the pages. He was there, meters from me but still miles apart and it was then I gave up. The truth was with everything that had happened the last few days, the death of our baby, him totally acting like I didn’t exist and then showing up days later as well as Lucien, Rafael had barely had any chance to talk.We needed to talk, to confront everything and move on. I knew for a fact that I wanted to move on with him. I wanted nothing more than to put all of this behind us and so I couldn’t give up. I co
KAYLA. “Have you ever wanted to forget something so bad and just completely move on that you decide never to speak of it?” Rafael asked and whilst I looked to him, my brows arched. “Because you’re that desperate to leave it all behind…” He continued.“That was the reason I never told you about Juliet” My eyes widened, some sort of response to hearing her name. I shouldn’t be this fazed because it was me who asked him of her and between everything Lucien told me, I just wanted to know the truth, or perhaps from his perspective.“But you still could’ve” I whispered.“No, listen to me” He parted his lips to speak but I hushed him. “Far more than either of us are pleased to admit, she is somehow that played a huge part in your past. She’s such a huge part of your life and that’s what I want to know” I said.“I want to know you, I’m tired of spending so much time apart with these million thoughts racing through my head and if it ever came down to it, I’m not still sure I do” I reached out
CHRISTINA. The moon was out in the skies and the wind was in the trees.We’d walked all the way to the forest in search of Veronica, splitting into many groups of twos and threes. Unsurprisingly, I was Sebastien, trailing behind as he yelled out her name with a torchlight strapped to his head. “Veronica!”Even from a distance, you could hear almost everyone else call her name. My head kept swinging back and forth over my shoulders and my heart was a little bit uneasy. Deep, callous breathes escaped my lips and soon Sebastien strayed so far that he was difficult to catch up with.I stopped for a second, letting my arms fall to my knees to take a break. An exhale came heavy out of my lips and the next time I looked up, I was far from everyone else.“Shit” Realizing I had to catch up, I cussed.The next minute, I picked up my pace into a run, emerging through the trees in search of Sebastien instead when suddenly, my feet got caught in a branch entwined to the earth, bringing me harshl
KAYLA.“What exactly happened out there?” Pushing through the doors, the first person my eyes landed on was Gerald and he was laying almost unconscious across the clinic bed. Rafael was right beside him, a finger stroking his jaw and it didn’t take me a second to notice the tense air. “Oh my God what happened to him?”“He was shot” Christina found her way next to me before folding her arms. She was trying to hide her nervousness but her glassy eyes gave her away. “Shot?” I echoed in shock.“Has the search party been called off?” Rafael asked and it was Sebastien who stepped forward this time. “Everyone is back and the doors are closed per your order” He took a bow and this was usually Gerald’s line but seeing him across the bed, he was barely conscious.“Rafael what happened?” I urged and he pushed a hard lump down his throat. “It’s Veronica—Gerald thinks he saw her in a flash by of a second he was shot. “She was the one who pulled the trigger so that doesn’t just mean that she kne