Not What You Expected

Chapter Twenty Eight

(⬆️Riley Jane's Hair, Makeup, Dress & Shose's⬆️)

Riley Jane's P.O.V.

I sigh as I stare out the double balcony doors. The wind blows in on a soft breeze, gently moving my messy hair out of my face. I pull the thin blanket closer to my body as I lazily gaze out the doors, lying in bed in the early hours of the morning. Ethan lies fast asleep only inches away, and I can't help but wonder what I've truly done with my life.

I mean, I was born in London in 1666, my mother hated me, and my aunt agreed. Besides Lillian, of course. Then, at the age of sixteen, I met and married William, who quickly became one of my biggest regrets in life. Then, I was seventeen when I gave birth to my first daughter, Calypso, then twenty when I gave birth to the twins, Ryn and Killian. To this day, I still have no idea where they got their black hair that resembles the starless night skies, and where Killian got his grey eyes. William and I both had brown hair, and I have hazel eyes. William also had hazel eyes.

I don't know whatever happened to William. When I left, I didn't start checking on the children until they turned eighteen, and by that time, they had all run from their father. I’d always thought he’d died, from what is now referred to as alcohol poisoning. But I never checked in on him as I was newly wedded to Jackson, and back in those times, it was frowned upon to have even a friendly relationship with the opposite s*x if you were married. Even if you weren't married, it was still frowned upon to court a woman if you had no intentions of marrying her.

I've never stepped foot back into my children's lives as it would only interfere with the prophecy.

Yes, that old foretold prophecy.

With a deep sigh, I recall the words of a siren who had been gifted and mastered the arts of precognition. I was in town in the early hours, looking for my next... 'meal', shall we call it. Just as I was about to pounce on an elderly man who only looked to have a few days left to live, she practically tackled me to the dirty ground and spat the words of the prophecy into my face.

"Generations away from now, a full moon will appear. Half of it shall be blue, and the other, red! The red will represent the blood that has been shed over the generations of your family! The blue will represent the trust of the ones you have betrayed! The moon and sun will go to war! The ghost of winter will stand at the sun's side! The creatures of the moon will turn against her! They will fight alongside the sun! The creatures of the sun will fight against the sun! Blood will spill over the lands like a vast tidal wave, humans will be clueless as to the fate of their race! Three queens and one king...a haunted vampire, a dark angel, a grizzly bear, a cursed werewolf. These are the keys you shall need to defeat time! But remember, time can only be stopped if it is stopped itself!"

With that, she pushed off of me and ran off towards the closest lake. I, of course, ran after but she was already in the water, her clothes discarded on the sandy shores, and the last thing I saw as she disappeared into the murky water was the horn-like spikes that protruded out of her tail. At first, I thought she was just some crazy fish who was suffering from land sickness or something. But then, a few days after, I was visited by a night witch who used her ability in oneironautics to contact me in my dreams.

She simply repeated the words of the prophecy, only spoken days prior to me from the siren. I had heard of prophecies being spoken before, but they were in realms where magical creatures are your typical beings.

"Sigh anymore, and I might just think you're age is catching up to you."

A soft smile appears on my lips as a strong muscular arm snakes around my waist and turns me over until my body is only inches from Ethan's.