-HER-
Next morning I wake up with a killer headache and a sore body. It’s already eight in the morning, signaling that I am running late for school.
I wake up and somehow brush my teeth, not bothering if I reek of alcohol and sweat. I am wearing clothes from last night. Since I am running late, I decide to grace the school with my presence in the same stale clothes.
After I am done with my so-called morning routine, I take my school bag and as quietly as I can manage, I climb downstairs. I move like a shadow, making no sound at all. I don’t want to face mom, dad, my twin sister-Grace or my elder sister- Phoebe.
I do the ninja-walk to the front door and was about to reach for the door handle to open the door when a familiar hand beat me to it. I turn around to find my nightmare... I mean my mom, glaring at me.
“Where were you last night?” She growls. A dangerous amount of energy is leaking off her body. She resembles a ticking bomb at the moment. I know that I shouldn’t be messing with her and I should act accordingly, avoiding danger but I like to push buttons. I like to play with fire. I never listen to warnings. I am a troublemaker. I look for trouble.
“Good morning mom,” I greet her while grinning innocently as if I am not reeking of alcohol and as if my eyes are not red due to the hangover. A thundering growl erupts from her chest, sending chills down my spine but I stand my ground.
“Out,” Getting wasted, cursing a god. That’s all I managed to say. Her glare heats up, even more, digging holes into my body.
“You were drinking and don’t even try to lie, Nefret. I can smell it on you.” She growls even more. I don’t even try to debate with her at this moment and watch her calmly. I know I am getting even more late for school and that’s going to put me in more trouble but I am okay with it. I’ve dealt with the worst. I go looking for trouble and when trouble finds me, I welcome it warm-heartedly.
As the silence begins to fall, I see frustration creep its way to her face as she rubs it and looks at me.
“Gosh, Nefret. Why can’t you be like your sisters? What’s wrong with you?” She asks and even though it’s the billionth time she said this to me, it still pierces my heart and continues to break it into smaller pieces. It still continues to eat me. The hurt and the pain refreshes every time I hear her repeat those words. New and sharper than the previous time.
“Trust me, mom, I tried,” I say with a sickly sweet smile which makes her growl out loud once more before I leave the house. It’s snowing when I started walking, scratch that, running for school. I slip and fall on the snow a couple of times but surprisingly I reach school in record-breaking time.
The first period has already started when I enter school and I am pretty sure that Mrs. Sutton, who teaches us English, would not let me in even after having a pass. Today the first period is hers and I wouldn’t even care to show up to her class because she hates me. Well, good for me.
I go to my locker and take out my books. Books. I want to set them on fire. They are my biggest enemies. Suddenly, someone shuts the locker on my face, barely missing my fingers from getting chopped off.
“What the fvc-” I turn around to find Melissa with a huge smirk decorating her face. I give her the sickly sweet smile that I use quite often, “Ah Melisa, nice to see you.” I said.
“Bitch, why are you even here? I mean, you should be in kindergarten, learning alphabets cuz you can hardly read. I wonder how you even managed to get in high school.” She snickers and her minions Sarah, Hazel, and Tiffany giggle behind her. I wave at them sweetly.
“Am here cuz I worked my ass off to get here. I didn’t have to cheat or do shit like that to pass the tests. At least, I am honest with my tests.” I admit while shrugging as I shove my books in my bag, not caring if half of the pages get destroyed or bent in odd angles. She growls at me but I ignore her before walking to the cafeteria to get some lemonade or anything to cure my headache.
I purchase lemonade and head to the next class which happens to be physics. The previous class is not over yet so I wait outside while I drink the lemonade, wishing it to be vodka instead. Soon, the bell rings declaring the end of the first period.
As the seniors gush out of the class, I spot my twin, Grace in the crowd, talking with her friends. Her long, sleek silver hair making her stand out of the crowd. I am junior while Grace is a senior, which surprises many people because we are twins and we’re supposed to be in the same year.
But you see, I am exceptionally good with studies. So good that I failed my junior year and now, I am repeating it, thanks to my dyslexia. As soon as her eyes lands on me, a frown finds its way to her face as she comes to me.
“You’re in deep trouble.” She hisses.
“I know,” I said shrugging but my stomach dips uneasily at her words.
When the class emptied, I went inside. I walk at the end of the class because I am a backbencher. I take my seat and put myself in auto-pilot as the class starts.
The whole day goes by in a blur and I am half happy, half depressed to go home. Mom will interrogate me if I go home and I don’t want to face her yet.
It surprises me when I end up going to the ruins instead. It feels as if something has been pulling me to it. I don’t know. All of a sudden, I want to be in the ruins.
I climb the makeshift mountain slowly and soon, I am standing in front of the statue.
“Hello, Arles.” I utter, looking up at him. His statue stares down at me as usual and I expected my greeting to be unanswered as usual too but this time, I hear a growl before feeling a presence behind me. This time I am not drunk and I know that this happened for real.
Suddenly, I want to be drunk.
-HER-“Hello, Arles.” I utter, looking up at him. His statue stares down at me as usual and I expected my greeting to be unanswered as usual too but this time, I hear a growl before feeling a presence behind me. This time I am not drunk and I know that this happened for real.Suddenly, I want to be drunk.I feel a burning gaze digging holes at my back as I stand here frozen and scared.Am I caught?I know that the ruins are forbidden hence its name‘the forbidden Ruins’but I come here for years and nothing has ever happened before. I haven’t been caught.Mom and dad did warn me countless times to not to come here because it’s a dangerous place but when do I listen? Besides this, I feel more peaceful when I come here. For me, it has been a place for me where I can be myself. To me, it’s like...home.I hear another growl which brings me back to reality. I can sense the presence still
-HER-Finally, when the torch lit up at the end of the room, I noticed a huge throne. A wolf head was carved on the head of the throne which looked quite similar to the black wolf that chased me here.My blood ran cold when I saw a figure sitting on the throne. The figure’s face was covered with a big hood, casting silhouettes on its face. Long black cloak flowed over its shoulder, resting lazily on the thick blanket of dust on the ground. The throne was several feet above the ground and the cloak reached its bottom. The rest of the person’s body was covered with black fabric.Even when sitting on the throne, the person was tall and towering and I wonder how tall they would be once they stand upright.The person’s hands rested on the hand-rest of the throne while their hooded head was held high. Their figure had a royal aura to it. Moments pass by as I hold my breath and examine the figure that doesn’t move a bit. The person was still like a
-HER-“And I don’t let them slip easily who step foot on my land without my permission.” He growls. His warning hanging fresh in the air as it charges with tension.Did I get myself in trouble?Yes. I got myself in big trouble this time.I want to run and never turn back. I want to disappear.The way he spoke told me that he meant every word. Every single one of them.“What are you going to do?” I find myself asking and instantly I regret opening my mouth. I am already deep in trouble and here I go digging myself a grave deeper than I could ever manage to crawl out of.He lets out a short, chilling laugh before I see him tilting his head at a side as if studying me. I could feel his heated gaze on me which sends a shiver down my spine and for a moment I could swear that my blood stopped flowing.The tension in the air buzzed like electricity and the flames in the torches dimmed even more, darkening the room. I instinct
-HER-After dinner, I come straight to my room and lock myself into it as usual. Since finals are next month, I decide to study or rather torture myself.I pick up the bag from the floor and throw it on my bed before climbing on it myself. I open the chain and hold the bag upside down until everything has fallen on the bed and the bag is totally empty. I chose my English book to start off with.As soon as I open the book and try to read the first sentence, my head starts to ache.All the words pour out of the book and start to float in the air while some start to crawl around the mess on my bed like spiders. Everything seems jumbled, puzzled and the letters dance in front of my eyes, leaving their words, messing the sentences. They daunt me, they haunt me. They tease me because I can’t catch them and put them on right places so that they could make sense to me.The ’d’s and the ’b’s look so confusing. I can’t tell them apart. To me, the
-HER-When I reach school, I realize that I am early. So early that the Janitor hadn’t unlocked the doors of the main building yet.I sigh, my hot breath coming out as white smoke in this cold weather. I walk around the school premise and climb the small hill covered with tall pine trees situated just behind the school building. Since the pine trees cover most of the hill; it’s a good place one’d like to come when they don’t want to be seen by anybody.I trek the small hill and find that old fallen log on which I’ve sat countless times and watched the time pass. I come here often when I don’t feel like attending a class or when I get bullied by someone. It’s a secluded place and not many students dare to stroll this father into the pine trees because the snow could be light here and easily swallow a person.Since I have been coming here forever, I know where to step and where not to. One of the advantages of not being home most of the times i
-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 someo
-HER-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 labelling him as friendly either.“Your first task is...” He trails off. Silence follows his words and only the haunting sound of the twists and turns of the wind against my window could be heard.“You have to come with me in order to know your first task.” He says and I could only shiver thinking of which hellhole he’d take me.“Now.” He snaps and I get up from my bed and walk into my closet to get my warmest jacket. I chose the one with black fur and ensure that Oculus Carver is wrapped securely around my arm so that I could use it whenever I am in need. I walk out of my closet to find him standing by my window.He stands tall, his hood is shadowing majority of his face. There’s this haunting and regal air about his presence that rakes my inside. It causes havoc to my senses and my mind seems to b
-HER-After several steps, I feel wet in my feet and soon, the sound of water echoes throughout the cave, reaching my ears and haunting me.Fvck!Since I cannot see anything due to the darkness in the cave, I decide to rely on my other senses. With slow steps, I move forward in the darkness while my hands are levitated in the air before me so that I could find a wall or anything that’d guide me through this darkness. My nose is up in the air, sniffing and trying to find any scent.I am constantly shivering due to the low temperature here. Outside seemed warmer than here. The cave is eerily silent. Only the water splashes due to my boots and the chattering of my teeth echoes throughout it with occasional sounds of my shaky breaths.“You’re going the wrong way.” A deep voice resonates throughout the cave and I jump back in surprise and shock. Did I really head someone speak or am I wondering voices? I shake my head and take a deep breath