CHAPTER SEVEN (NEW MOON)
Chapter Seven: Landown Pack, the Halfcrest’s home, and their graveyard.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Mallory raised her head in alarm.
Far away on a corner, she saw the trapdoor rattling. There was someone trying to push it open. Mallory raised her vigilance and tried to find a weapon to protect herself and found the dagger. However, it was far away from her.
She panicked. Mallory released her grip on Melita’s now cold hands.
Her sense of self still hasn’t come back. Her emotions were still all over the place. She couldn’t think of anything else, but one thing; escape!
She needs to escape. To live. Because by living, she can fulfill her promises–to grow stronger, to take care of herself and Oddny whom she has yet to find, and to live well.
Mallory had long stood up, her feet ready to dash out from the house when she heard a muffled sound from the trapdoor.
Mallory stopped and listened. The person down there still kept on banging on the locked door. Mallory listened for a few more times before her ears caught a familiar voice.
“Oddny?” Mallory’s eyes widen. After she said that, the banging continued, but it was louder than before.
This time, she heard a sob. All the vigilance she had melted down. Without a second thought, she unlocked the trapdoor and the figure of Melita’s only daughter entered her eyes.
Oddny looked up at her, her mouth was covered in gauze to keep her from talking, and her hands were tied up. She probably used her shoulders and back to bump into the wooden trapdoor to gain her attention. When their eyes met, her eyes suddenly filled up with more tears.
Without a second thought, Mallory pulled her out took the gauze out from her mouth, and released her from the ropes. Then, she pulled her into a hug.
Mallory felt indescribable relief when she felt her warmth against her. At the same time, her heart tightened again after realizing that this woman was probably the last person she had in this world.
Mallory pushed Oddny out of her embrace and cupped both of her cheeks. Mallory looked through Oddny’s eyes full of tears before asking with difficulty. “You were there the whole time?”
Oddny’s sob grew stronger. Mallory looked at her in despair.
Oddny was there the whole time. The vampire probably didn’t take her out from underground for one thing; to let her witness as he committed murder. She probably heard everything, from their dying screams and the grimacing sound of blood exiting their bodies.
This young girl probably only got the courage to let her presence know when she heard Mallory and Melita talking, thinking that everything is already okay. But alas, Oddny was late. She failed to come up on time. Her mother is already dead.
Oddny looked at her mother and trembled. She escaped from Mallory’s hands and kneeled, taking the cold upper body of her mother to hold. “Ma!”
Oddny’s cries filled the whole house.
Mallory watched this, and her hands curled. Her anger swelled up along with her grief. Seeing Oddny pathetically crying like she did earlier makes her desire to grow stronger eat her heart.
Mallory pursed her lips and made up her mind.
She looked at the unfortunate women on the floor and felt a surging wave of sadness in her. But that strengthened her resolve even more.
Without delaying anything, Mallory held Oddny’s hands and said sternly. “Let’s go. We should escape from here!”
Oddny looked up at her in resistance, but Mallory looked back at her, showing the younger one that she will drag her out from there if she resisted. Oddny almost broke down, realizing that she couldn’t even give her mother a proper burial, but Mallory was right, they should escape from there.
It won’t take too long before the vampires notice that something happened to the Noble vampire. Oddny saw the vampire’s body in a corner of the house. A body of a dead vampire. It was certainly weird, and unnerving. How can a vampire die like that?
But even so, she couldn’t care.
Rather, she wished that he didn’t die peacefully at all. She wished that he experienced all the agony possible before he died.
“Wait,” Oddny looked at her mother’s body in pain before taking something on a chest. It was a bag. “Y-you have something in here too. Ma packed it for us.”
“…” Mallory bit her lips and slowly nodded. “Yeah, thank you. Let’s go.”
Oddny kneeled again and kissed her mother’s head goodbye. She looked at Mallory, urging her to do the same. Mallory bit her lips before also getting on her knees.
She felt the coldness of her skin and felt that the sensation would remain on her forever.
After that, she stood up and had her resolve stronger than before.
‘I will keep her safe for you two.’
She looked at Oddny, and without a word, she held her hand.
Oddny let her drag her out of the house, her eyes lingered on the dead bodies on the floor.
When they stepped outside, they saw how the fires were eating up all the wooden houses in the village. There were already dead bodies on the ground; werewolves who failed to escape, or wolves on the ground who were defeated.
It was a horrible sight, but the two turned their sights away and ran towards the exit of the village. While they ran, they passed by dead bodies—human forms and wolves form a like.
She heard Oddny whimper and asked silently. “Damian?”
Mallory held her hands tight. “Sorry.”
Oddny needs no more words to understand. She cried even more, however, her speed didn’t decrease even a bit.
Hand in hand, the girls ran out and directly headed to the thick and scary forest.
Outside, they saw others escaping from the pack. Their eyes met, and after nodding, they went on separate ways.
The more scattered they are, they won’t get caught and killed easily.
The two ran for a long time, kicking the dried leaves on the ground. Small wounds accumulated on their cheeks, legs, and arms from the sharp branches of low trees. The little blood didn’t affect their speed.
Later on, when they thought that the forest would never end, in the distance, they saw a flickering light.
Their eyes widen, thinking that the vampires set an ambush for them.
They were ready to stop and detour when suddenly, a creature with four legs appeared by their side.
Startled, the two looked at the grey, furry creature.
It was a wolf.
The wolf looked at them before looking up ahead as if telling them to follow it.
Mallory felt that the hand that was clenching her heart loosened for a bit. She looked at Oddny and they both tactically followed the wolf.
After closing the distance, Mallory and Oddny finally confirmed the suspicions in their heart.
They were indeed other werewolves from another pack.
Their eyes were trailing after them, watching them run towards them desperately. Some were on their horses, while others were in their wolves’ form, their sharp eyes observing the approaching figures.
‘A foraging unit?’ Mallory asked herself after seeing their situation. ‘Or a scout? Either way, they have someone Unblessed with them.’
They were using horses, and because of that, Mallory concluded that they had someone who still couldn’t change into their other form yet.
“Hmm,” someone in front of the unit examines them and comments. “Unblessed, I see. Quick, get into the horses. We need to leave.”
Without a word, the two mounted the horses that offered a ride.
Upon sitting on the firm back of the horse, the rider in front glanced back at her. Mallory met his gaze. It was a man her age. It was someone you can determine in the middle of a crowd, a presence and a face that can suck you in. His golden eyes were mesmerizing as they glowed under his hood.
He smiled at her as if trying to reassure her that everything was going to be fine.
The stare lasted for a mere second before he looked away, focusing on the reins of the horse.
“Let’s go.”
With a word, the unit started galloping away from the perishing village.
Mallory held onto the man’s back and cast her eyes back to the pack that housed her for a year.
The fire was visible even with the distance between them. Mallory can feel the burning sensation even from afar.
It took a lot of strength for her to not sob from the pain.
Landown pack is a beautiful and peaceful where the Halfcrest lived. The pack that took years to stabilize got destroyed just in one night.
Landown Pack, the Halfcrest’s home, and their graveyard.
CHAPTER EIGHT (NEW MOON)ARC TWO: Re-journey---Chapter Eight: Traveling with StrangersThe unit had traveled a distance away from the scene in silence.Everyone had one way, or another agreed to travel without a single noise except for the sharp stomps of the horses and the crisp sounds of the dried leaves under their hooves. They would stop occasionally to see if they were still on the right track and to take a break.Oddny and Mallory huddled together whenever that happened, and aside from giving them a few rations, the others ignored them. The two were relieved from the lack of attention and ate the small dinner they had in silence.Someone approached them and sat a polite distance away. Mallory looked up and realized that it was the person who shared his horse with her.Sensing her gaze, he smiled at her. Mallory froze dumbly, unsure what to do. Meanwhile, Oddny retrea
CHAPTER NINE (NEW MOON)Chapter Nine: A Fun Person“Mallory…”Mallory raised her head only to see Oddny looking at her with teary eyes.Frowning, Mallory set her fishing rod aside and held her hands. She asked, her voice full of concern. “Oddny? What’s wrong?”Oddny bit her lips, hesitation was clear from her subtle actions. Mallory caught her throwing anxious glances toward the others who were with them by the river.It’s their first week traveling with the Exploration Unit which saved them from the pursuit of their mortal enemy; the vampires. During this week, Mallory had already adjusted to the atmosphere within the group. She thought Oddny did too, but she didn’t. Not even the slightest.As the oldest of them, she did everything to make Oddny comfortable. She hunted, foraged, and fished for
CHAPTER TEN (NEW MOON) Chapter 10: Facing the Truth and Awakening itContrary to her expectations, she couldn’t find the right opportunity to talk with the man. As usual, he was surrounded by others, making it hard for outsiders to enter the circle. She didn’t push it, afraid that she’ll annoy the only person who was kind to them.Although she was a bit dejected with the situation, she was still happy that he kept his word.There was truly no one who bothered them during the trip. The nasty glances they received were already close to none when they entered the last week of their trip back home. This lifted their heavy nerves, and even Oddny started to smile a bit more again.Because of their slowly opening atmosphere, a certain someone started bringing herself inside their comfort zone.“Mallory, Oddny!”The two darted their eyes toward an incoming figure. She was shorter than Mallory by two inches, her hair is colored like the soil, and her skin was tan. She had an amicable smile on
CHAPTER ELEVEN (NEW MOON)Chapter Eleven: ActivationFirst thing’s first—how?Mallory went closer to the clear river, the moon lighting the place up for her to see her face clearly. She looked at her own reflection closely, but no matter how much staring she did, she couldn’t see any changes. She can’t see the patterns she saw in her memories.Mallory sat by the edge of the river; her mind spun to figure out how.Should I… A minute later, an idea surfaced in her head. She looked up, at the glowing moon. Should I try and talk to the Goddess?Mallory had done prayers of thanks to the Goddess. She had done things that others had too to communicate with the Goddess. Rituals, prayers, and meditating somewhere nice and quiet. However, none of these acts warranted a response from their Goddess.Mallory thought hard
CHAPTER TWELVE (NEW MOON) Chapter Twelve: A Step Closer Mallory woke up with a start. As soon as her eyes opened, the first thing she saw was the leather-colored ceiling. It took her a while to realize it was a tent. Mallory's eyes wandered around, confused. After looking here and there, she realized that it was hers and Oddny’s tent. A question suddenly popped up in her head. ‘How did I get here? I don’t remember walking back to the camp…’ When that question passed through her brain, memories from yesterday night entered her brain without warning. Mallory froze after remembering what happened yesterday. Her eyes widened and she sat up, ‘She saw me! Oddny saw me—’ Her vision blurred with how sudden her movements were, but that didn’t stop her from standing up and walking out of the tent. She ignored the dizziness and the slight pain in her legs. She looked around anxiously, trying to find her shadow. She looked around like a spinning top when suddenly someone patted her on her
CHAPTER THIRTEEN (NEW MOON) Chapter Thirteen: The Gates As the sun dips below the horizon, a town next to a mountain range emerges from a fog. Oil lamps and candles lit up one by one, illuminating the small place. As the darkness truly enveloped the land, the town came to life. A door of a rather simple house creaked open, and a man with red eyes stepped out. One after another, more came out from their houses. Their faces were pale as snow, their eyes red as blood, and the most noticeable feature of them all; their fangs. Long, sharp fangs. Havenbrook town. A small town of vampires. As they can’t be under the light of the sun, vampires only come out at night. And as the moon shone, it was the beginning of their day. Vampires moved about, talking to one another or taking a walk near the fountain in the square. Little noise could be heard, and the town excluded a tranquil atmosphere. Half an hour later, one of the residents of the town looked outside, and with his hawk-like eyesig
CHAPTER FOURTEEN (WAXING CRESCENT) ARC THREE: Gale Pack—New Home Chapter Fourteen: Welcome to their New Home Mallory was surrounded by the darkness. The grasses and the hand on her back were her constant assurance that she hadn’t fallen into a pit of darkness with no way out. With one of her senses blocked, she became conscious of every noise that her ears picked up. She heard the dry leaves breaking under her feet, the murmurs of the crowd, and the whistling of the wind. She doesn’t know how much time has passed, she doesn’t know how much they stopped, turned, and walked again. Minutes later, she felt the hand on her back disappear. Alarmed, she almost voiced out his name, but seconds later, she felt her blindfold tugging. The next moment, Mallory almost went blind from the brightness of the sun. She covered her eyes with one hand, and after a while, opened them slowly. “Welcome to Gale Pack,” said the voice she recognized as the one who was leading the unit. She can hear him
CHAPTER FIFTEEN (WAXING CRESCENT) Chapter 15: New House Trevon brought them around the pack and introduced the important parts and on which building they should go or specific reasons. As they go around looking at things, the two can’t help but marvel. It was truly bigger than their pack. It was bigger than Mallory had ever seen. Everything looks and feels so organized, and Trevon did a good job explaining everything to them. Mallory can’t help but think that she’ll adjust better than she had ever done. ‘Though I really have no other choice but to get on my feet fast,’ she said to herself ruefully. Mallory thought of the future ahead and felt her shoulders droop for a bit. She immediately fixed her mood and realized that they were already crossing the bridge she had seen earlier. It was a short bridge, and they crossed it in a matter of seconds. What awaits them on the other side of the bridge is another row of houses, but Mallory noticed that they were a lot more clustered and