흑막을 버리는 데 실패했다 Novels & Stories

“What happened? Are you really asking me that? What happened was that the stuff you had in that vase didn’t do shit. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It was supposed to kill them, wasn’t it? But guess what? They’re still alive. Still very much alive. And now I look like a damn fool.” I couldn’t help the frustration that filled my words. I had been so sure this was going to be it… the big finish. But now? Now I was left with egg on my face, and worse, I had no way to explain to anyone what had gone wrong. Greg’s face was expressionless. “It wasn’t supposed to fail. What do you want me to do, Charlotte? It should have worked.”

The next morning arrived with a dull gray sky hanging over the city. Inside her small apartment, Tiana stood in front of the cracked bathroom mirror, staring at her reflection. Her skin looked paler than usual. There were faint shadows under her eyes that even sleep couldn’t erase. She splashed cold water on her face, hoping it would help. It didn’t. Her body still felt weak, like something inside her was slowly draining away. But weakness wasn’t something she could afford right now.

I looked at the hickey on my neck and saw how dark it had turned and frowned at myself in the mirror, it was so ugly I was praying for the concealer to work. A single dab to start with and I used the tip of my finger to spread it around evenly. Nope, that didn’t hide it well enough, let's try for another layer. It looked fine until I took a step back and saw that the shade I chose was one shade too dark and it looked like I slept on top of my makeup bag it was so caked on.

When my reflection stared back at me, my stomach dropped. The front strands of my hair had turned black. I touched them again, hoping they would shift back. They did not. I stared at the black strands, a cold chill spreading down my spine. The spell had worked. But it had left a mark. A permanent one. And I did not know what that meant.

With a deep breath, I set the letter aside, the weight of the failure still heavy upon me. I stood there, my mind swirling with questions and frustration. The weight of uncertainty bore down upon me as I contemplated the lack of reaction from Princess Serafina to the potion. Pam, who had sworn by her ancestors that she had successfully administered it, had assured me of its potency. Yet, there was no visible change in Serafina's demeanor.

She frowned. Her freckles were gone; now her face was smooth and creamy pale. "What the bloody heck, I feel like I've been in the Photoshop app." She groaned as she touched her face, nose, lips, hair, and body. It seems like everything was perfect. Barbie perfect! Bloody hell! What the fuck happened? Wow, now I am not complaining at all! Her freckles were gone! Gone! Why the hell? But something was really wrong; she couldn't hear her wolf. It was like the beast was gone.

I asked, the question laced with raw, trembling fear. Margret's gaze met mine, her eyes filled with a mixture of frustration and determination. "There are forces at play, my dear, beyond our understanding. It isn't working. I can't see her," she confessed, her voice tinged with disappointment. "But we shall not give up. There should be other means we can try." Desperation tightened its grip around my heart as Margret's spell failed to yield the desired results.

She has always been a great friend. "I think you should apply a thicker layer of foundation over your eyes." Veronica took a sip of her coffee and spoke to me. "What happen?" I devoured the hamburger and turned to look at Veronica. She pointed at my eyes then pointed at the mirror. I turned and looked at myself in the mirror. After just one night, I woke up and loooked like a sick person. His eyes were dark and tired, and his face also lacked rosy and excitement. "Did you lose sleep?"

The next afternoon, after school, I came home and changed. I stood in front of the mirror trying to make myself look like someone whose world wasn’t collapsing in four days. The task felt almost laughable. My hands trembled as I blended a bit of concealer under my eyes, trying to erase the bruised exhaustion mapped there. A thin swipe of mascara, a soft tint on my lips—nothing heavier. Anything more would crack the second I forced a polite smile.

she said grumpily and turned to lead the way out I followed silently behind her my heart aching in pain as the thought of my failure weighing down on me Somewhere deep I felt like crying God how could I have failed the test like how could I have failed it when I've spent the past three days preparing earnestly for it. I mean, I made sure to take extra care of my already delicate skin, making sure to wash it properly at least thrice a day I'd also used a lot of skin care products that would make it glow and glitter than it already was So how come I still didn't pass? "Well, you should know," the woman suddenly stopped walking and turned around to face me. We were already halfway out of the bu