SHELBURNE, VERMONT
Cirilla's point of view
Firmly, I adjusted the black boxing bag gloves around my wrists. I get my stance right by standing with my feet at shoulder-width apart and my front foot facing the punching bag. I do not hesitate in unloading my punches, making sure I throw powerful and snappy punches at the punching bag. I plant my feet firmly when throwing the punches and when I'm not throwing punches I move around on my toes. My breathing laboured. I've been at this for probably an hour or maybe more. I can't exactly tell. Suddenly, I'm getting bored by the exercise. It would have been a little more fun if I was sparring against an opponent. Now that would be entertaining.
I absconded the boxing bag gloves. My long and thick black lashes pressed firmly together and the gate of my eyes shut closed. I inhaled deeply and calmly. And as usual, my subconscious formed a well built and sturdy figure. It looked virile and manly. He wore black leather pants and a black tacky jacket that looks like one forged from the heat of battle in the medieval times. His face was covered with a silver mask. But the color of his eyes were as dark and dangerous. The conviction in his eyes were as firm as always. To kill.
I smirked to myself. My electric blue eyes hardened and so was my conviction to protect myself as always. He balled his hands into fists and pulled them up in a fighting stance. Eagerly I lunged at him, striking him. He blocked and sent a swing at me, which I was swift to avoid. I kept my eyes closed to avoid breaking off my connection and losing this imaginary character my mind always created to escape my very own hell of a life.
Everything was going well. I was still standing strong even after countless minutes of our heated combat. Abruptly, I felt a mighty force of wind which forced me to pull from my subconscious. My eyes flung wide open. I scanned the slightly huge gym I worked at after school hours. The doors were shut, and so was all windows and anything that could pull in the cold air from outside.
"Hello!" I called out to the faintly dark silence of the gym. "Is someone there?" It couldn't be Jim, the gym instructor who usually camps in the gym throughout the night. He wasn't even in town, so I decided to have the gym all to myself. Believe me, it was damn better than spending the night home with the chances of being deafened by the loud moans from sensual sex and repeated banging on the bed. Sometimes I feel the little exercise even gets done on the wall of the room next to mine in a hellhole called 'a home'. What an irony. Home is usually a teen's safe haven, a personal space where you belong and feel loved. But mine was a constant hell that I was willing to take whatever bus I could find to make an escape.
I didn't get a response. With a cautious last scan of my surrounding, I resolved to return to my training when I heard the unmistakably loud thud of the door, which I'm well damned sure I locked when I got here after escaping from home.
I was alarmed, but not terrified. I had a lot of scary shit going on in my life to be terrified of a little invasion. I picked up a long metal stick. Whatever or whoever the unlucky bastard was trying to break in picked an awful night for that.
I headed to the entrance door, and like expected it was opened. I checked around but there was no one. My eyes caught something strange on the door. It was some kind of a scratch. I trailed it with my fingers. It seemed like a work of anything but art done with the nails. But that was an impossible theory. Each scratch marks were few inches apart from the other. It couldn't be a human, probably some wild cat that lost it way or something.
I dropped the metal stick, taking a step outside into the cold unwelcoming night. I scanned the surroundings, into the deep woods miles away from the gym. But there was nothing out there. The Moon was up in it's abode as usual, and smiled up at it. In my seventeen years of existence, that shimmering work of nature up there have always been something that intrigued me.
I felt the biting cold already feasting on my poor skin, since I had only a light long-sleeved round shirt on. I was about to head back in when I felt the rustling of trees around. Now that was creepy. Hastily, I marched for the door. Before I could grab it knob, I felt myself being lifted roughly and dragged away into the woods in a speeding motion. I didn't know by who or what as the hold around my waist was sharp and piercing. It was dark and the more I was carried deeper into the woods, the Moon's protective ray on me slowly disappeared due to the canopy trees that shielded the woods.
Fuck! I was already in the woods, with my head upside down. I wriggled free from whatever hold that held me, crashing against the slightly wet earth and dirt. I was on my feet quickly, running towards the direction I was pulled from, hoping to get back to the gym.
Something didn't feel right. Especially not with the loud animalistic, and unseen noises that kept hounding me. My boots kept diving deeper into the moist earth, leaving a trail. And the emotionless crisp air was against me as well. I was forced to halt in my tracks when I was blocked by someone, or something.
It was awfully dark, and I couldn't see a thing aside from the blinding red eyes that bored down at me from where I stood. I visibly gulped as an army of several emotions I couldn't make out ran down my spine and every vein in my body. I felt the heat of breath fanning my face. It wasn't human. An animal of some kind. It gaze held a dark and crystal clear conviction to attack.
My survival instinct that had always been birthed within me kicked in, and I had to save myself. For just today, I chose flight rather than my usual theme for fight. It was sheer lunacy to fight that which wasn't human.
I dashed in the opposite direction. I could hear the aggressive drumming of my traitorous and frightened heart in my ears. Before I knew it I was thrown back off guard. I winced. Pulling my back off the muddy surface of the earth. I was surrounded by three of the wild beast. They had murderous red eyes as they bored down at me.
I scrutinized my surrounding and grabbed an wood stick laying idly on the wet surface of the earth. Instinctively, I swing at one of the creatures, and from the other side I was attacked by another creature. I felt a sharp pain from my side stomach. It wasn't deep, but it hurt like hell. From another angle I was hit, the impact was strong as it swept me off my feet and I landed harshly against the truck of a giant tree.
Cold crimson fluid flowed from my head, I was bleeding. I tried to move as the three creatures moved closer to me, seeming pleased at themselves. My vision went hazy, and my body slowly went numb. They were already at me when from utterly no where one of the creatures was thrown away. Immediately, a small fire broke around, circling me as if protecting me from my attackers. I heard a piercing sound and a dying groan. It alarmed the other two creatures. Whoever came to my rescue lunged at them. Everything moved so fast, and soon the creatures were killed.
From the corner of my vision, I saw someone racing to my side. The figure was that of a man. It was a man. My heart nearly stopped as he approached me. His body blazed in a streak of yellow and orange flame. It seemed like it didn't hurt him... almost as if he was extremely comfortable... fucking hell he was.
He wasn't human either. My vision almost gave up when he reached for me. His arms capturing me and I felt a warm feeling in them. His eyes were…. were…. something... something between flaming yellow and shady green. It was terrifying, yet comforting. This had to be a dream. I totally drifted into darkness.
SHELBURNE, VERMONT Cirilla's point view I curled up on my bed. My head throbbing against my skull. The thin line between my eyes was glued tightly together. The depth of my soul had wandered far away, pulling me into a warm fuzzy dream. I was at a place I had never been. The air around was calming and welcoming, and the feel of the soft, sandy soil beneath my bare feet was a sweet pleasure. Suddenly darkness covered the earth and there was only chaos around. I heard the faint sounds of screams, and the foul stench of death invaded my nostrils. My heart pricked with fear, as a cold, deathly feeling clamped around me. It was suffocating. I tried to abscond it but that was impossible. The cold, deathly feeling seeped into my bones and spread within me. I felt myself slowly slipping away when bright, crystalline blue eyes flashed within the storm of insanity stealing me away. Those perfect and immaculate blue gaze were so foreign, yet they held a st
BEAVERTON, OREGON Cirilla's point of view I hum to the rhythm of the music playing loudly in my ears, trying to get distracted by the music and my drawing. Even though my efforts have been futile. The recent days have been unpleasant for me, coupling with the weird and bothersome dreams, more like nightmares I've been having. Flashes of nonhuman creatures hounding me. At first I thought it was just a dream, but now I'm not certain of that anymore. I'm starting to rethink that theory, I feel like it's more than a mere dream, like they are missing pieces from my memory. But that's impossible, maybe I'm just being paranoid with the fact that I still can't remember what happened the other night. I placed the black colored pencil on the bed, gripping the yellow colored pencil, bringing it to the sketchbook. I skillfully mixed it with a shade of orange, after a while I was done. Pulling it up, I stare intently at the image I had drawn. It was a picture of a figure. A m
BEAVERTON, OREGON (Black Blood Pack) Cameron's point of view Grief and sadness were two feelings that were not so foreign to me. It felt as if their very existence were carved out from my soul, like a ditch of dark hole deep within in my heart. A hole that cannot be filled by anything that the world could offer. I thought of it at that time as a sad moment in life where you have to push through to the other side, but there's no pushing through, and there's most definitely not an other side to this sadness, other than pain and more pain that I'll have to get through everyday. It is the only emotion that have absorbed me. The more the years rush by, and the world keep growing, it only get more harder and impossible to deal with. I'm aware of what the world thinks of me, what everyone thinks of me. They say I'm nothing more than a saddened soul that have sold what little of his humanity to the devil. Well, I can't blame them. That wasn't exactly a lie
BEAVERTON, OREGON Cirilla's point of view The sharp sounds of heavy thud echoed in my ears, my heartbeat skyrocketed. A wave of fear and panic crippling my insides and my breathing came out short and fast. I felt my body tremble, sharp pains building in my insides, the frightful image of blazing red eyes crept in my mind, making me jerk up from my bed. The beeping of my alarm clock startling me. I turned it off, and glanced around my room, heaving a tired sigh of relief. It was only a dream. I breathed loudly, calming my nerves. Warm rays of the sun wandering in and instantly warming me up. It was only a dream, I repeated calmly, releasing another sigh. Rubbing my palm against my face, I leaned into it, getting a grip of myself as everything flashed through. I remembered it vividly. Almost as if it was real. So real. The insane fear. The sharp piercing at the side of my stomach and the loud growlings of those beasts. And then the nonhuman figure that burne
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA (Crescent Moon's Pack) Asher's point of view I walked out from the Witches quarters. I just concluded my usual training exercise with aunt Neela and uncle Benjamin had left with aunt Rhona for the Circle's meeting in Nevada. Once I reached my room, I showered and got dressed in casual jeans and black tee-shirt that displayed part of my tattoo on my arms and neck. It was evening already. I gaited to the Packhouse. "Hey Asher!" Amy hopped to me, linking her arms to mine. She was finely dressed in short lavender single strap dress. She had makeup on and looked like a doll on display. "Ooh. Stop drooling. You are giving me the butterflies" She fake slapped my hard rock chest, jokingly. Then Eric, Enzo, Carl and Louis came up to us. They were smartly dressed. I raised my brows. Was I missing something? Their confusion was etched on their faces as well. "Am I missing something?" I asked, confused. "What
CARSON CITY, NEVADA (The Wiscon Palace) Davina's point of view I was seated next to Cyrene delicate figure, watching her as she slept peacefully, while I gently stroke her gray-white hair with her head firmly resting on my lap. She looked so calm, and at peace. There was a special kind of tranquility that fell on her. I brushed back the gray locks of hair that fell on her face. It was unbelievable how time flew so fast, how fast the years has changed everyone. It affected everyone so badly, and Cyrene was not left aside. Being a witch who was gifted with the ability to foretell the future, she had it as worse as anyone of us. My fingers brushed the freckles on her cheeks, she didn't even as much stir, the spell I had cast on her drifted her to deep slumber. She needed it badly. The tender skin around her eyes as usual had dark circles, one formed overtime from stress and from the constant use of her powers. But Cyrene still looked the same exactly
Cirilla's point of view "Hey Jaxon!" I bellowed behind me, strutting my way to the locker. It was friday night and I had just reported for my night shift at the bar in town. Quickly, I had changed into the work outfit. I pulled out my phone quickly, sending a brief text to Niko. He was out of town. He left school abruptly today, saying something urgent came up at his family house somewhere in Nevada. I met with Jaxon at the counter, he was pouring in some drinks for some customers. "You are a minute early" He said to me and I smiled. It has only been a short time since I started working here, but Jaxon and I had grown kind of close. I think my social skills were improving by the day. Jaxon dark skin like rich chocolate brushed past mine, moving to serve some customers while I took my position at the counter. I scanned around the bar. It had an average number of people. It was only a matter of time before people begin to rush in nonstop. Plus it was friday night
Cirilla's point of view I woke up earlier than usual the next day. Frankly I couldn't sleep. The thoughts of the stranger at the alley kept me awake through out the night. I can't stop thinking about him. And the unspeakable chemistry between us was undeniable. I groaned into my pillow. Unable to decide yet if I should take him up on his date or not. I dug my head into the soft pillow, recollecting everything that happened last night. Weirdly, I loved the pull that existed between us. I wouldn't mind experiencing it again. What could probably go wrong? I guess I had just decided. I'm going on a date. I raced to my closet in search of something nice to wear. I realized I'm in a conflict between jeans and a cropped shirt. and a short dress. I didn't want to dress less or too much. Quickly I grabbed my phone, texting Lyra who's much capable of managing this crisis. 'I've got a date. Don't know what to wear' I entered the send button, perching on the edge of the bed. In