Lunar's Curse

The guard didn't look at me once as he led me down dimly lit narrow corridors. I looked at the pictures now, searching for green eyes to signify the Lamia bloodline—searching for Eternal. Though whenever I stopped too long, the guard would say “Hurry up” before turning down another corridor.

The corridors were labyrinthine. I couldn't keep track of where we were turning after a while but the guard never stopped or hesitated. He knew exactly where he was going. The corridors all looked the same to me—hung portraits and dark beige.

Finally, after what must have been the hundredth fork in the corridors, I spotted stairs leading downwards. Like I expected the guard went down the stairs and I followed him.

Unlike the corridors, the stairs were not covered in a plush red carpet. The carpet gave way to dark hardwood flooring that looked almost ancient. In the corner, my eyes spotted a small black thing that looked out of place. Squinting, I realized that it was a dead animal and backed away from it. The guard didn't give it a second look as he led me down the stairs.

The wall had been stripped of the dark beige wallpaper that I was getting use to. It was now grey cobblestone like the ones I had seen from the outside of the mansion. The stones were unlike those that displayed proudly outside; these stones were cracked and dusty. I was almost sure that there were insects crawling inside the cracks.

I reached forward to brush my finger against the cool stone on impulse. There was an odd jolt in my stomach and a myriad of emotions took over my senses. For a second, my vision was black.

Anger. Why did I have to do this? He was just a human. I didn't need to be sent down to 'study him' and whatnot. I was more than that. He was worthless to me and I could spend my time doing better things.

Worry. What if I can't do what they ask of me?

Fear. What will they do to me if I cannot do what they expect me to do? What if I go overboard and explode the whole place? What if—

“I would suggest that you keep walking. The Prince does not like to wait,” came the low, monotonous voice of the guard. My head jerked up and my vision cleared. The emotions drifted away, out of reach. Frowning, I hurried after the guard but kept trailing my fingers along the stone, hoping that I would come across the remnants of emotions.

What exactly were they? Maybe Quatan would know... I made a mental note to ask him as soon as I got back. ...If I got back.

“Where are we going?” I asked the guard. Like I expected, he didn't answer me. The staircase was slowly spiralling down now. The light from the corridors had long faded and there were torches hung up on the walls in a typical medieval style. Glancing upwards at the torches, I realized that the flickering flames weren't really flames. In fact, I had no idea what they were but they seemed much too artificial for it to be real flames.

I wanted to ask the guard what the torches held but I had a feeling that if he didn't answer my earlier question, he wouldn't answer this nugatory question. Instead, I stared at them, torch after torch, trying to think of a name for the substance.

The stairs ended and I was greeted by the sight of a long, dark hall. I could see that on either sides of the wall, there were metal bars keeping something in. The guard didn't look twice at them and continued his way. I, however, did not do the same.

Peering through the bars, I saw that the ground was filled with yellow straws. The whole place smelled of decay and...blood. On the floor was a human shape. With their back slumped against the wall and their hands and legs bound by shackles, I could see why it smelled so bad here.

We were in the dungeons.

The figure lifted their head up and where eyes should be was a gaping black hole. Some sort of maggot was wriggling in the hole and I felt bile rise to my throat. Opening the mouth, the figure tried to say something but all that came out was dry retching. I shuddered and backed away from the prison, still feeling goosebumps as I walked on. I didn't look into any of the other cells as I walked on, keeping my eyes steadily on the back of the guard's head. I blocked out the moans of pain from the other cells and tuned in on our footsteps as we walked on.

Finally, the guard stopped so abruptly that I crashed into his heavy metal armour. He didn't turn to acknowledge me and said, “We're here.”

There was a wall a few feet in front of us and a path on either side which I assumed led to more cells and prisoners. Standing by the wall was Xavier. He nodded to the guard who led me here and walked forward towards us.

Xavier wanted to talk to be alone, that was right. I hadn't truly thought about it until now. Maybe he didn't actually just want to talk. Maybe he wanted to take my blood. My eyes widened at the thought and I began to back away slowly.

“No use escaping,” Xavier said coolly as the guard went to stand beside him, his expression stoic. “Besides, it's not going to hurt.”

My eyes widened but I knew Xavier was right about the escaping part. The hallway behind me was too long and I doubted that I could run down it without Xavier and whatever other guards he had posted around would catch up to me.

Remember your Djamphir skills? Or have you forgotten about that?

Of course, but I couldn't concentrate right now. My heart was thumping loudly and my mind couldn't stay focused enough for concentration. I could only stare at Xavier's nefarious grin and hope that I wouldn't get killed.

“First,” Xavier said, holding a pale finger up. “I want you to meet someone.” There was something about the wicked look in his eyes that made me certain that I wouldn't like whatever he was about to do. Xavier turned and walked down the right path, leaving me to follow him. The guard that I was with earlier trailed behind me so that if I tried to run I would be intercepted.

Xavier stopped, motioning towards one of the cells. Instead of bars, this one was entirely covered with cobblestone except for the steel door. “I think you'll enjoy it in there.”

“What?” I exclaimed. “I thought I was... I thought I was upstairs!”

An amused smile crossed Xavier's lips. “Consider this a change of plans.” Xavier opened the door and the guard shoved me in. Falling on the concrete floor, I cursed and I tried to run for the open door but Xavier was closing it already. “Have fun,” he said, and his red eyes were the last thing I saw before the door slammed shut.

It was completely dark. The cell smelled of rot and decay. I banged my fist on the steel door as hard as I could all while knowing that it was futile. I couldn't concentrate on whatever Djamphir power I had inside of me though that didn't keep me from hitting my fist against the door. “Let me out of here!” I screamed. There were no windows and I wasn't even sure if this cell was sound-proof. “Let me out!” I continued to scream.

I didn't know how long I stood there, screaming and banging my fist but I got tired. I sank to the ground with my back against the door and whimpered. My pupils adjusted to the darkness and I could see two figures huddle by the back of the cell.

“Who are you?” one of them asked in a hoarse voice that was strangely familiar.

Were these rogue Vampires? I wasn't sure. Maybe they were rogue wolfen or just wolfen in general.

“Who are you?” I asked, my tone hushed. The thumping in my heart was getting louder and louder now. I was now stuck in a cell, in the dungeons with criminals. The person here could either be a human or a Vampire. If it was a Vampire, they probably would be starving for some fresh blood. From the look of the earlier prisoner I had seen, this place wasn't exactly a grand stay.

“Myra?” came the voice again. It was definitely feminine and familiar now. “Oh my God! It is you! You wouldn't believe the conditions here—it's infested with rats! I shudder to think of the other diseases lurking around.”

I only knew one person who complained like that in a way that was sort of amiable in my view. “Justine?” I asked, my tone incredulous. Of course I knew that she would be in the dungeons. I just didn't know that Xavier would shove me in the same cell as her.

That got me thinking: was Xavier giving me one last day with my friend before he...took my blood or something? If he did, would that mean he had a heart and mercy? Or maybe he thought it would be entertaining to put us together.

I hoped that he wouldn't be taking any of my blood soon. The thought of that sent shudders through me.

“Of course it's me,” Justine said, not even sounding as if she had been fed on by a Vampire earlier. “Who else would it be? And did Xavier lock you up here too? Oh joy, now we can all have fun in here together. Who's popping open the bottles today?”

Knowing the gregarious Justine, I knew she'd say something like that. Though I didn't think about the other person in the cell until now.

“This isn't a joke,” came a weary, tired voice. A voice of someone who had been locked up in this cell for days. “I cannot understand how you can still have energy.”

“Claire?” I asked in the darkness. My pupils slowly adjusted and I was seeing faint ginger hair in the darkness. A blonde girl sat on her left and they were both chained to the wall.

“Yeah,” she said, her throat hoarser than Justine's had been. “I didn't really expect that it wasn't actually a rabid dog. Now that I think back, maybe the rabid dog would have been a better option than being locked up in the cell by bloodsucking monsters.”

Looking at Justine, I expected her to say that Vampires weren't bloodthirsty monsters at all. That they were just poor misunderstood creatures that just needed help from fellow humans. She didn't. I assumed this was because Justine wasn't feeling so well after Xavier fed off her. Did she truly believe me now? The cell was too dark for me to make out her expression.

“Claire, I'm sorry for dragging you into this,” I told her. This was my fault. Why else would Xavier and Alex have been interested in us? They must have subconsciously sensed a Djamphir in making when they stumbled across our school. I was probably indirectly part of Amanda's death too and even though I didn't like her, it didn't mean that this knowledge didn't hurt.

Tears welled up in my eyes. The knowledge that it was partially my fault for someone's death made my heart ache. It didn't matter who the real killer was. All that mattered was the fact that it was my fault.

I attempted to wipe away the tears with my now dirty hand but more tears replaced them. In the end, I settled for full-out crying. What was the point in hiding the tears? There was no room for embarrassment—this was full shame.

“Myra!” came Justine's frantic voice as my sobs echoed louder against the walls of the tiny cell. “Hey, I always knew that I was the weak one but if I can do this, you can too.”

Justine, my best friend could be so reliable in times like these. I was glad of her (slightly wavering) loyalty. She was with me and I could do this. But...

“You don't know,” I sobbed, my throat feeling as if it was closing up. “I...I didn't ask for this. Any of it.” And it all came spilling out; Eternal and Quatan, the boy upstairs right now, the Lamia, my bloodline, everything.

When I finished, they were all silent. “Wow,” Justine finally said. “Never expected my friend to be half a Vampire.”

“And this is dangerous?” Claire asked me, worry clear in her tone. “Myra you have to find a way out of this crazy place.”

“I know,” I whispered. “I know.”

“Plus, you have a super cute supernatural reincarnation of a Prince upstairs? Jealous doesn't even begin to describe what I'm feeling.” Again, Justine never failed to be gregarious and kept an eye out for cute boys on the way.

“I'll try to get you two out,” I said. “I...” I was about to say 'promise' but could I really promise on such precarious outcomes? “I'll do my best.”

“Why don't you use your Djamphir skills now?” Claire encouraged. “To blast us out of here and as Justine would word it, kick some ass?”

“I'm not focused enough for that. I can't focus enough,” I said miserably. “I can't concentrate right now and I'm doubtful that I can do much except for persuasion. Apparently, my powers will kick in when I'm seventeen. I don't know how much time has past—this place has no day. Just night.”

“With me being the good, day obsessed friend, wouldn't you expect me to know?” Justine asked, almost glowering at me through the dark. “Though I really dislike dealing with numbers, I would say that it's about two days until you reach bittersweet seventeen. I have a sixth sense for all these 'days' business.”

Justine was right. She always had a thing for marking out the right days if she wasn't distracted by occasional boys.

“That's if I can last for two more days,” I said, “Xavier wants to suck me dry and Rina just wants to kill me in general.”

“Hello?” Justine began, “Supernatural pretty boy? Or have you forgotten about him?”

Before I could answer, bright light filled the cell and I squinted against the harsh discordance. When my eyes had finally adjusted to the light, I realized that it wasn't so bright at all—someone had opened the door. Thinking it was my chance at escape, I ran for the door, my numb feet feeling almost weightless.

I would run upstairs, find Quatan, escape with Claire and Justine and never return to Seul Âme again. It was as simple as that.

Simple as the plans were, they were foiled when a figure slid into view, blocking the path I had been trying to take. He had exchanged his clothes for more elegant ones. He wore a long-sleeved white collared shirt and a sleeveless black trench coat with intricate patterns sewn across the front of the smooth fabric. I was sure that he was also wearing dark trousers underneath and the boots he wore seemed to be made of leather. A solid gold crown rested atop of his head.

He was so pale that his dark clothes were a stark contrast with his skin. The thing that stood out the most were his deep red eyes that made my stomach heave just by looking at them.

“Time to go back to your room,” he said, shutting the steel door behind me, separating me from my friends.

“I thought I was—” Before I even finished my sentence, Xavier had cut in and interrupted me.

“I was merely fooling you,” Xavier said. “Your friends are quite a bother. One has the scent of the wolfen all over her.” I assumed that he was talking about Justine when he said that. “And the other is quarter of a wolfen.”

“What? Claire?” Wolfen? She couldn't be wolfened! As far as I had known, she had always been a human in my high school with no oddities. Until she met me. What misfortune.

“Yes, well mortals tend to Turn when they are infected. Only she was bitten by a half-breed. Odd thing she is. A quarter-breed and a clear-sighted mortal.”

I knew what a clear-sighted mortal was; it was someone who could see past the human guise of a wolfen or a Vampire. What would it be like for clear-sighted people? I doubted that it was fun, seeing walking corpse in the middle of the night. No wonder Xavier had said most had gone insane from the knowledge.

We were silent the entire time. I hadn't noticed earlier but the dungeons were teeming with guards in heavy metal suits. I swallowed as I walked past them, trying to keep my fear in. It would be nearly impossible to escape without divine intervention.

Or Djamphir skills.

Please let Justine be right.

Finally, we had walked up the stairs and into the hallway where my temporary room and Quatan were. “Thank you,” I said, trying to sound polite. It came out as a question.

“You're welcome, milady.” Xavier looked at me with a look in his eyes that was pure predatory. “Did I ever mention that you eyes are a lovely shade of green?”



I didn't enter the room that was deemed as mine for the moment because I didn't want to speak to Eternal or have her pester me. Instead, I headed for Quatan's room. I opened the door to find him lying on the bed, seeming to have fallen asleep. But the moment I stepped through the threshold Quatan sat up, his eyes wide and aware.

“Myra,” he said, walking towards me as I shut the door behind myself. “Did that monster feed off you? Are you all right?” His eyes were so full of concern that it almost made me dizzy—in a good way.

“Got locked in a dungeon. My friends were there.” I proceeded to tell him everything—including the part where Claire might be a quarter-breed.

Something changed in Quatan's eyes as I told him my story. The concern slipped away in something that looked like...boredom? It couldn't be. But as Quatan started to speak, I recognized the lazy drawl in his voice that indicated that he was amused. “Quarter of a wolfen?” he asked, laughing even though I didn't think it was very funny. “Man, as serious as that sounds, I don't think your friends are in much trouble.” He threw a smirk in my direction as he laughed.

I finally saw the flaws that had been screaming in my face the entire time: arrogant and insensitive. For a moment, my vision blurred with an anger that was new to me and the next thing I knew, one of the large panels on the windows had shattered into pieces.

Quatan stared at me and I realized that I was the one who shattered the window. I was also breathing hard like I had been running for a long time. Closing my eyes for a second, I realized that there were tears on the edges of my eyes. I didn't feel like I had even shed any tears but the evidence was there.

We were silent for the few seconds before I spun on my heel and headed for the door. If Quatan was being insensitive—then fine. I could do without him. I could make my own plans of escape while he laughed at me. I could do that.

Quatan swore under his breath. With flick of his hand, he had repaired the shattered glass back into its' reverted state. As my hand grabbed the golden doorknob, I felt a soft ripple go through the air towards the doorknob. I turned the knob but was jammed. Turning around, I watched Quatan with angry eyes. The window panel was fixed and looked as if it hadn't even been shattered in the first place.

“Comes with the sweet age of seventeen,” he said, catching the way my eyes wandered towards the window panel. “I'm used to it. Myra—!”

I had used his distraction to concentrate on unsealing the door again. Turned out that he had only used a small portion of his supernatural powers to seal it. It wasn't too hard for me to open it.

“Myra!” Quatan said again. Before I could even turn the doorknob again, Quatan had grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him. “God, Myra. I'm sorry,” he said, blue eyes fixed on me, his hands holding onto my wrist firmly.

The anger dissipated and I was just left with weariness. “I...” The words didn't leave my mouth and I shook my head helplessly, staring at the carpeted floor. “Can you please take thinks seriously?” I finally asked him, wondering if he would laugh at me again.

“I am. I will,” he corrected. Using a hand, he lifted my chin up, willing our eyes to meet. Staring into my eyes, his took on a look of confusion. “I swear,” he began softly, “I know you from somewhere.”

Did he know me as Mel the soul reaper or whatever she was? Was I really once her? I was never really the defiant person that Mel seemed to be in the visions. I liked following orders...until they clashed with my morals.

“Before we get to that,” I said, finally thinking that we were heading somewhere in the 'escape this hell-hole' department, “we have to find a way to escape.”



For the next waking hours, Quatan and I spent time devising plans and discarding them. Quatan had confirmed that we had come here through some portal but it could only be accessed in another room. Which of course would be heavily guarded. Escape for Justine and Claire was futile. The dungeons were well guarded and I doubted that we could sneak in there unnoticed.

“There are guards stationed at every corner,” I said, remembering the walk back with Xavier. “How do we escape them? Your skills, maybe?”

Quatan shook his head. “It's difficult,” he told me. “I don't think I can manage that much power without burning up.”

It was selfish of him but I understood. I had come to (really) like him and I did not want to sacrifice him. No. I couldn't do that. Quatan would not be a casualty in this.

In the end, we had come up with nothing. Sighing is exasperation, I bunched my hair up in my fist out of frustrated. The silver bracelet that my grandmother had given me was beginning to irritate me too. Why had my grandmother kept this hidden away from me? “Urgh!”

“What's that?” Quatan asked inquiringly, staring at the silver bracelet in rapt fascination. “Can I see it?”

I held my wrist out for him to examine the bracelet. He took my wrist and held it closer to him and my heart started to beat faster than it's usual pace. As if sensing this, Quatan slid a finger below the bracelet and onto the back of my wrist. I held my breath, my hand tingling with nerves.

“This... It's a Witch's bracelet,” Quatan said. “One of the most sought after items in the supernatural market. How did you come across it? This gives the wearer, no matter what origin, the power of a Witch's magic.”

My grandmother...a Witch? But what other answers were there? I already saw her with the 'rabid dog' as Claire had called it. What else would she be? “My grandmother gave it to me,” I replied. Quatan's eyes shot up.

“Keep it safe,” he said. “We might come up with something with you having the bracelet.”

We didn't talk about the bracelet afterwards and kept discussing plans. But soon, we were both dead tired and decided to call it a day even though the moon still shone brightly outside. I didn't want to go back to my room so I ended up with Quatan instead.

Curling next to him, my heartbeat began racing again. I couldn't help myself. For a second, I fantasized Quatan wrapping his arms around me and felt my cheeks heat up with embarrassment. That didn't happen in real life. In real life, Quatan left me space. He claimed half of the bed while I claimed the other. He was content to give me space and I appreciated that. I had too many thoughts swirling inside my head. It would be one day until my birthday when I woke up the next morning. Just one day until I was seventeen... And whatever Djamphir powers I had would be woken.

The next day had been the same minus Xavier. Nobody had interrupted us (which I was grateful for) but this was getting us nowhere. And I was sure that Xavier and Rina would come for the killing soon.

The day my birthday arrived, the day began off as usual planning failures.

I woke up feeling nothing out of the ordinary except for a minor headache and a sinking feeling in my stomach that if we didn't hurry up and get out of here, I would never get out of here. Attempting to use my Djamphir powers, I realized nothing had changed except that the headache would worsen if I tried using them. Great. Now how were we going to get out? Was Justine wrong after all?

But Quatan and I had only just begun talking when I decided to do something different. “We need to survey the mansion from the outside. I'll go and take note of it.” In truth, I was sick of being cooped up in the room and I really needed some fresh air, whether from Seul Âme or not.

Quatan had no protest about it. Just as I was about to leave, Quatan snapped his fingers, going out of his deep-thoughts trance. “I got it,” he said. Catching my look. He winked and said. “Tell you when you get back. It's pretty simple. We'll be out of here today. Hopefully.”

Nodding, I left the room and headed down the corridor, trying to remember which corridor Xavier took me down when he showed me the horrible Cattle Farm. Like usual, I didn't run into anyone while walking down the corridors. Unlike the dungeons, security was lax here and that was what made me afraid. Did they had cameras? I looked around but saw nothing out of the ordinary. If there were cameras, escape would be much harder.

Finally I spotted the doors and hurried over towards them. They were the same as the ones that Xavier had opened last time and I knew that this was the right door. I attempted to open the doors. This wasn't just for my selfish wants for fresh air—I really was going to survey the mansion. I could gather information and find out weak spots. Maybe there was an entrance into the dungeons from the outside. One never knows.

But to my surprise, the doors stayed tightly shut no matter how hard I pushed and pulled. “Open up!” I finally hissed as I continued to try and open the jammed door. Of all times, why did it have to be now? “Just open!”

“I'm afraid not,” said a drawling familiar voice.

Oh. No.

Xavier stepped into view with Rina close behind him. Both wore expressions of a pure night predator.

And I was the prey with no escape. I couldn't possibly outrun them in their own home. They knew all the corridors and passages of this mansion. The only thing I could do was try to persuade them to let me keep my life—and blood.

“How nice of you to join us, Myra.”