THE VEILED EYES

SERAPHINA

I saw my first vision when I was fifteen. It was also the first time I saw death. Not just a death, but my mother’s.

I was barely awake at that time. I slept late, preparing for a school presentation, and woke up early. She kissed my forehead that morning, tucking loose strands of hair behind my ear while reminding me to eat the food that she had packed for my lunch. I even remembered complaining that I was no longer a kid, but she just laughed at me and said I’d forever be a child in her eyes.

That was the last time I ever saw her. I should have cherished that moment, should have embraced her when I had the chance…

I was in the middle of my presentation when the vision slammed into me. I saw red, a place engulfed by fire, bodies listless everywhere, and the howls of pain were simply unbearable. So much that I lost consciousness. I was already at the school clinic when I woke up, but I clearly remember the last thing I saw before I fell unconscious.

My mother was covered in blood, eyes still open, but I couldn’t see any life in them.

I immediately tried to contact her, but couldn’t reach her. In desperation, I called my dad and told him exactly what I saw. I pleaded with him to go after her, but he just dismissed me. He even got angry at me for “speaking curses and nonsense” against my own mother.

But it wasn’t a curse. It was the truth. It happened right after my father dropped the call on me, even though I was already crying and begging him to go.

My mom attended a pack gathering, and that same day, hunters raided and killed every werewolf they could get… exactly as I’d seen it.

Instead of apologies and regret, my father blamed me for his wife’s death. He twisted what I said and told the pack that I cursed my own mother. The pack believed their beta’s words and hated me the same.

They called me all sorts of names. Cursed, misfortune, touched by death. All the while, I was struggling with my abilities, which I couldn’t control just yet. I kept seeing images of people and places all mushed up, and it barely made any sense.

I learned then that truth doesn’t matter when people need someone to blame. It doesn’t matter when you’re the only one with eyes wide open because they’ll make sure to blind you.

He couldn’t even take a glimpse of me… so my father did what cowards do. Maybe even worse. He didn’t just abandon me. My dad sold me without blinking. He sold me to the people who, one day, came to our house, saying they wanted me and would have good use for me.

And that was the start of my personal hell.

--

“We’re here. Prepare her.” I heard Zaira, the coven leader of the witches who bought me, ordered from the front seat.

“Yes, mistress,” Tess responded beside me, and the coven leader quickly went to work.

She got out of the car and went ahead, leaving me with Tess and the driver.

I didn’t bother resisting and just let them do what they wanted. Tess carefully placed a black lace around my eyes, hiding what they called my cursed eyes, and then a black veil to hide my face. It wasn’t just to hide my face from the public, but it was also infused with a spell to prevent my power from going haywire. At least, that’s what they kept telling me.

This has been my life for the last five years. At first, they had trained me to control my abilities and block the visions as much as possible. My mistake is in learning too fast, trusting when they said they’d help me, and I no longer have to be afraid.

They kept me alive, but only because they needed me. They kept me hidden in the territories of the witches on the outskirts, east of the New Xevile City. I’m sure that the other covens nearby were very much aware of my existence, and yet no one had bothered to ask if I consented to any of this.

The witches paraded and marketed me before desperate clients who didn’t care how much they paid as long as they saw a fragment of their future.  The future I can now see at will through physical touch has become a people’s salvation, undoing, or a weapon. It totally depends on what I see, many of which should have been left for them to know or not know at all.

The future was never certain. That’s what I learned. It could be changed based on the person’s course of action or the actions of others around them. With the knowledge of the future, they have the chance to change or keep going on the same path they’re on.

I’ve told too many futures that became weapons. Every time I protested, they reminded me that I owed them, and if it weren’t for them, I would have been dangerous for everyone around me, and what they did to me was the utmost protection they could give for someone like me.

After all, a she-wolf shouldn’t have such abilities as mine. I was an abomination of nature. That’s what they kept telling me, and I began to believe it.

“Was that really necessary?” This time, I couldn’t help but complain while flinching as the bracelet, which was doused with wolfsbane essence, touched my wrist.

My vision felt dazed in an instant, though I was already used to it.

“It’s our protocol.” She answered with a straight face, “Just don’t move around too much.”

I almost scoffed as if that would help when the metal was biting on my skin.

“It’s not like I’d escape. I don’t have anywhere else to go.” I murmured another complaint, but she continued adjusting the bracelet, making me growl in pain.

I received the message and stopped asking questions and voicing complaints. Soon after, she got out of the car and opened the door for me. I rolled my eyes at the fake act of sincerity but kept it to myself and silently followed Tess’ lead.

“Be polite,” Zaira warned me right after she met us halfway from the house. She only acts like this when the client pays more than usual.

As if they had ever let me speak up freely.

My senses adjusted to my surroundings. Although my senses had already dulled from years of barely any connection with my wolf and the moon, I still recognized that this was a shifter’s territory. I don’t know which pack it is, but it felt familiar.

It's the closest I've come to my old home, but I don’t know if that’s a good thing.

“Why are you with a she-wolf?”

My heart skipped a beat at the sound of a deep, intimidating voice. Undeniably, an alpha’s. I lifted my gaze and saw him through my veil. He was directly looking at me, wearing a mixture of confusion and worry on his face, though I was sure he couldn’t see mine.

How could he tell?