Chapter 3

“You have to stop this fight, Lucia!" A voice whispered with care and affection into her ears. She recognized it even though she hadn't heard it in the last fourteen years. It was her father's voice.

“For how long do you plan to resist it?" He asked with tears in his voice. She could feel it. The vigor he used in saying that.

“For as long as I live dad... if I'm still breathing, then I wouldn't give in," she stood her ground, groaning in more pains that ate deep into her soul, sucking it out at a gradual pace. She had fought with the spirit for six hours and was getting weak and faint already.

“But you promised me, you would live. You said so and now you want to break your promise? Is death what you wish for? " He said, and that struck a chord in her and she felt remorseful, but for a split second.

“No, dad. I'd be better off if I'm dead than having to live my life in constant fear. Fear of not being discovered. I wouldn't allow myself to become a slave to others. Take a look at Jackson. He's always bullied at school.”

“But you aren't Jackson. Jackson's weakling. He can't fight for himself, and that's why he's always bullied. If you died now, then our dream of having the world accept werewolves and witches would fade away. What then would happen to the thousands, yet to come?" He asked and that did the magic. She let herself down and allowed the spirit to go into her.

She groaned as she changed Into a huge wolf, the size of a lion. It was strange, for a newly formed wolf to be as big as she was. Something was behind it and the answer wasn't far-fetched.

She was a mixed breed... Daughter of a werewolf and a witch.

She's a were a witch. A rare breed, born once in a century.

It was morning, and the sun was shining its light upon the earth. It seemed a little harsh for that time of the morning. Seven am. The bedside clock ticked non-stop and soon read eight. Lucia woke up feeling tired and weak. Her body ached so much that she felt like it would break anytime soon, but it didn't. It remained firm.

She strolled with leisure across the room and remembered all at once that she had a class at ten o'clock. Professor Chris again. She stamped her feet against the floor as she stepped into the bathroom to get her bath.

Thoughts rang in her head as the water ran down her shoulders. Her rent was almost due and she hadn't gotten a third of it. She had gone to work at that party the previous night, just so she gets the money to make it up. Six months. That was her payment plan. The money!

“My money," she shrieked, remembering she didn't take her money from the venue after what happened the previous night.

She wore her clothes in haste and was about leaving when her next-door neighbor accosted her, with a placid grimace.

“What's up Lucia? How are you doing?" He asked with a smile that revealed his smile.

“I'm good, and you? She sounded so cold and unfriendly.

“I was hearing some strange sounds during the night. It sounded like a wolf's, did you hear it as well?”

“No, I didn't. Are you sure you heard right?" She asked with a sarcastic grin.

“Yes, I did. And I'm sure it's a wolf?" She continued with her game of pretense.

“Yeah! It sure is a wolf. My ears can't lead me astray!"

“I don't think you did, and again, what would a wolf look for in a densely populated place like new York City," she said and dashed off, with the knowledge that he was staring at her.

She reached the venue and was surprised to see it sealed off by the police. There was none of them at the scene. She heaved a sigh of relief but decided to take the back door as a safety precaution.

She met the money right where it was and couldn't measure the joy she felt at that moment. It was in a big bag. She picked it up and was about to leave when she heard a voice. “Stop right there!”

She froze and was about to face the man when a voice spoke to her, “Don't move an inch. Be still." She noticed claws growing out of her hand and within a jiffy, changed into a full wolf. She faced the officer and watched his face fall and then immediately scurried off like a cheetah, his balls dangling from left to right.

She stood still and waited a bit while she returned to her normal self. She felt weak and couldn't move until after a few minutes. Her head banged. She bent to pick the money up. It was weighty and she knew it contained more than three hundred dollars, but couldn't wait to count it. She escaped through the back door and was about to leave the compound when about forty officers surrounded her, with their guns raised above their shoulders.

“If you move an inch, you die!" An officer said.

She was trapped. She knew it. She was in a dilemma as to what to do.

Her eyes darted around. They were twenty in number. She stood no chance against them all. She would be dead before she moves a few inches.

She raised her hand and pointed it in the air. A man fell to the floor. Dead.

She froze in surprise as she tried to assimilate what just happened. The nineteen others shook with fear trapped deep in their soul.

“What manner of being is this? She raises her hand and one of us dies?” a middle-aged man asked the one beside him in hushed whispers.

“I think she's a witch! I have never seen someone do that in all my twenty years of working in the force!”

She moved her right hand and a man fell to the floor, groaning in severe pain. It stopped, the moment she took her hand from his direction.

“It's a witch! She isn't an ordinary person!" One of them roared and then ran out through the gate. The rest when realization dawned on them, ran off as fast as their feet could carry them.

Lucia continued to stare at herself and at the man lying dead on the floor. Her head ached and she couldn't think straight...

“Why am I experiencing this?" She asked herself as tears trickled down her face. “I didn't plan this for myself. I didn't plan to kill people for fun. I didn't.”

“It's your fate. your destiny. It lies ahead of you and there's nothing you can do to it," a thin melodic voice whispered into her ears.

“Who are you?" She roared, upset at the spirit sweet-talking her.

“You would get to know who I am in due time when you are ripe enough. Now, you need to remain patient. Patient...

“What a minute... How do I get to stop this madness that comes over me..." She said, but the spirit had gone and it upset her.

She sighed in resignation and then went her way.

“Are you sure you want to go to the new York University? I can have your admission to Harvard University processed it you want?” her voice echoed through the large sitting room, with a sullen face that made him want to laugh.

“Mum! I told you I want to attend this university. Won't you allow me this wish of mine?" He asked, sounding so desperate and frustrated. A glance at his face would tell you that. Why wouldn't he be? His mother, Lydia was the wife of billionaire Avanti, but he was long dead and now, she owned it all. She and her son, Roberto.

“Come on Roberto! You shouldn't study in such a cozy and vermin-infested place. I doubt if they do any cleaning over there," Lydia said, twitching her nose like someone who had perceived a foul odor.

“Have you forgotten that the place you call vermin-infested is your alma mater? You studied there for four years," Roberto said and burst into a devilish laugh.

Her face turned sour and she wished she could spank him for bringing that to her memory.

“You are an asshole! Do whatever you wish but I promise you that if you come crying to me, I won't listen to any of your whimperings," she said and stormed off.

“Don't worry mum! I won't do that and you shouldn't poke in your nose," he said after her and then yanked his bag from the chair. A maid walked up to him and with a low bow, collected it from him.

“Is the car ready?” he asked his chauffeur who was clad in a white shirt and checkers trouser over a blue Blazers.

“No sir, it will in a few minutes!" The chauffeur responded with a shaky voice that he tried hard to conceal to no avail.

"I asked you guys to have this checked since yesterday but you refused!" He roared, stamping his feet against the tarred floor.

"I'm sorry sir, it won't happen again!"

"you had better make sure it doesn't, because if it does, then you are fired! Get me the Lamborghini," he said and snapped his finger in the air.

The car parked in front of him. He inspected it from a corner of his eyes, frowning lucidly. He stepped in and was refreshed when the cool breeze from the air conditioner blew on him.

"Drive off!" He said to the chauffeur who was waiting for his order. The car zoomed down the long run, to the main gate and out of the Central Park South in Manhattan.

Lucia got home with a pang of guilt at the atrocity she committed again that morning. Two murders in less than twelve hours. It was alarming. She knew it and knew no peace.

That wasn't the life she wanted. She remembered her parents had a peaceful life when they were alive, but hers had been rough since her childhood.

She remembered doing all manner of work just to earn a living even at a tender age. Now, she could live comfortably at least because she had two jobs that keeps her going.

She picked her books from the floor without any interest and then walked out of the room, turning the doorknob after it. It snapped and she left.

She stole a glance at her wristwatch and exclaimed as realization dawned on her. It was almost ten am and she would be late for Professor Chris's class, no doubt about it. She was doomed. A splitting headache from heaven knows where hit her with force as she waited for a bus. Five minutes... Ten... and still no sign of bus going her way. She heaved in frustration and was about to return home when a car pulled up in front of her.

“I know you! You are Lucia right?" A young boy of about her age asked with a childish grin.

“Yes, I am...

“I'm John, fine and applied arts, you?"

“Phycology," she responded.

“Hop in! If you don't want to be a minute later. We have the same class.”

“A second-year student right?” Lucia asked with a tender smile.

“Yes, you?"

"Yes... So it means we both are having the same class. Professor Chris!" They shrieked as fear gripped them.

The driver drove off and they were soon are the university.

The university was huge and all manner of cars adorned the environment, but none was as Porsche or expensive as Roberto Avanti's.

The students found it awkward, seeing a Lamborghini in the school. There were rich students there but hell, Lamborghini isn't for the rich. It is for the wealthy. A small black car parked side by side with the Lamborghini and it upset Roberto.

Lucia stepped out of the black car, he stepped out of his, and their gaze met.

Roberto froze as he basked in Lucia's beauty. Jealousy overrode the affection in his eyes. He spat the guy beside Lucia.