STRUGGLING FOR LIFE 1

It was dark and dingy. The smell of rotten bodies was heavy in the air. The sounds of dirty and running rats filled the dungeon.

Laura was huddled in a corner, shivering due to the harsh cold.

"What have I done?" She asked herself, shivering. Tears streamed down her eyes uncontrollably and at this point, she knew she wasn't going to come out of the problem she was into.

She tried to think deeply about what had gone wrong in the kitchen but she couldn't pinpoint anything wrong.

She had been prepping everything accordingly and carefully and she made sure to do everything right.

"Ahhh.." She gasped as she realized something.

At the time Bryce walked up to the stage, she had slipped out of the kitchen to watch him present his speech.

At that time, she was mesmerized by his handsomeness and she prayed to the Moon Goddess to bring them together.

Though he would have to break away from his lover.

"Maybe someone had done something while I wasn't there." She said to herself in realization.

"But who?" She asked herself.

She thought deeply about who would want to sabotage her and her mind came up with an answer.

"Lilian? Is she?" She said to herself, wishing the Moon Goddess would just whisper the truth into her ears.

But then on second thought, Laura was aware that Lilian had never stepped an inch close to the kitchen. Ever since she became Alpha Kneed's lover, she was pampered and catered for.

"She can't be the one!" She concluded as she couldn't connect the dots.

However, an idea popped into her head and she stood up to her feet and walked toward the bar railings.

"Hello! Anyone there?" She yelled, hoping a guard would attend to her.

She continued to yell and one minute later, a guard walked up to her.

"What's the matter, laura?" The guard asked, with a curious look.

"Dan, thank Goddess, you are here." She said with a breath of relief.

"What do you want, Laura? No one should see me talking to a murderer!" Dan said, in an angry tone. He was being patient with her due to the things she had done for him. However, he couldn't help but feel disgusted that she had poisoned everyone.

"I'm not a murderer, Dan! And you know that!" Laura clapped back as she held onto the iron bars tightly. The word murderer was consistently ringing in her head and she couldn't stand it anymore.

"I don't know anything!" Dan said immediately, pointing to her. But then his expression wavered as he looked at her meek and innocent face.

He knew the Laura he was used to wouldn't do a thing like killing someone.

Before he could say something more, she continued, "I need your help! Please, help me prove my innocence!" She pleaded.

Dan was silent for a few moments but then he sighed and nodded.

"Right! I need you to go to the kitchen and find out which unknown face was in the kitchen when I was in the ballroom." She said, quickly.

It took a moment for Dan to comprehend what she was asking.

"You could get me in trouble for that!" He said, warily.

"Yes, but when the truth comes out, it will be good for everyone." She said, with pleading eyes.

There was a long silence between them and in the next second, he nodded his head.

Laura let out a sigh of relief as she watched Dan turn around to investigate what had gone wrong.

"Please, help him, dear Goddess." She prayed to the Moon Goddess.

However, in the next second, she felt a sudden chill like she was in Antarctica.

Goosebumps lined her skin as a foreboding aura overwhelmed the atmosphere.

A shrill and wicked laughter sounded out in the air and Laura covered her ears immediately.

"Ahhhhh..." She screamed as she fell to the ground. Her heart thudded and her head throbbed. The laughter tormented her as it echoed in her head continuously.

She twisted on the ground and in the next second, she felt a hand round her neck, strangling her.

"How does it feel?" A voice sounded out and Laura's eyes snapped open.

"What...?" She asked as she saw Lilian crouching over her. Her eyes widened in fear seeing the witch's scary face.

Lilian's face was pale and there were blood stains around her eyes.

"What are you doing here? Let go of me!" Laura suddenly came back to her senses. The noises and laughter in her head disappeared and she pushed the witch away.

However, Lilian didn't move, she was still as a  rock.

"You lowly servant really thinks you can outrun me?" She said and then burst into a peal of loud laughter.

In the next second, she stood up and threw Laura to the other side of the dungeon, with so much force.

"Ahhh!" Laura screamed as her back hit the wall. She heard her bones crack and she fell limply to the ground.

Pain coursed through her body in tremendous waves.

"You are a spineless weakling!" Lilian said and Laura winced. Indeed she thought that she was a weakling as she couldn't even stand up for herself before her mate.

"What do you want? What have I done to you?" Laura asked, in a weak and shaky tone. Her claws scratched against the ground as she tried to sit upright, however, she couldn't.

"Being in existence is enough, you think you can take Kneed away from me?" lilian said, pointing to herself.

It wasn't surprising to Laura that she knew about her connection to Kneed.

"I'm his mate!" Laura said, in defense.

"Never!" Lillian thundered.

"You will never be! I'll crush you before you get close to him. You will die a miserable death! You can never have him, as he belongs to me." She affirmed in a thunderous tone.

Swiftly, she put her hands out and tightened them into fists.

In the next second, Laura held onto her chest and started to cough out blood.

"Ahh, what are you doing to me?" She asked as she felt like her life was being squeezed out. She desperately gasped for air! For life!

Blood dripped from Laura's mouth as struggled for life.

"I'm going to kill you! Slowly and painfully!" lilian said, in a sinister and low tone.

However, footsteps resounded in the air, and in the next second, she vanished into thin air.

Dan appeared on the other side of the iron bars and shouted, " I couldn't find anything, Laura."

However, he received no response.

"laura!" He called out again but no answer.

He moved closer to the bars and in there he saw her, lying in the pool of her own blood.

"laura!" He yelled and immediately proceeded to open the door.

He dashed into the dungeon and took her in his arms.

"What happened, laura?" He asked, not caring about anything else.

Slowly, she opened her eyes to look at him and then she said, "Get...me away from here please. I don't...want to die."