"What's the story behind it?"
"To remind us that no matter what happens, or how many times we get departed. We will surely unite when triumph becomes our ally, and pain is no longer the puppeteer of us."
Once upon a time, there was a cruel werewolf...
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CHAPTER 20
"Daddy, when is mummy coming back?" my four year old self asked obliviously as my dad put me into bed. He took a couple of seconds to speak; trying to find the appropriate words for a kid to hear and understand. "Your mother is an angel now Lea, do you know what that means?"
"It means she lives up in the sky, with the moon goddess" Despite the sorrow that was haunting his eyes, I smiled widely; feeling proud of myself for knowing the answer. "Yes darling, but that also means that she is never going back." My face fell knowing that I will never see her again; the woman who defined and encompassed my world back then. "But we will always remember her right? She will be our guide as you and I have each other's backs am I right?" He covered his grieve as best he can. I let out a little giggle at the thought of both of us being together until eternity.
"But how are we going to be okay? Or when she gets sick? And what if she needs us?" Worry filled my eyes at my dead mother, as I forgot the events of the murder, a typical four year old. "Well, I suppose we'll have to hope that the goddess is taking good take of her until the times comes for us to follow mummy too".
"Daddy, will you read me a story just like mummy used to?" It took a lot of stubbornness on my part until we finally settled on The Sleeping Beauty. "Once upon a time there was a king a queen who lived in a beautiful big castle. They had everything they ever wanted except for one thing: a child. Years gone by until their wish finally came true..."
"So the prince loved the princess just because of her beauty?"
I asked with disbelief. I didn't give my dad a chance to say a thing; wanting to declare my 'wise' opinion. "Well, I don't like this story. He can't love her just because she is pretty. Why do you love mummy?"
"I loved her because she was kind to everyone, had a white heart, was pure, caring, and tolerant. But my favorite thing about her is that she was capable of making me smile when I'm sad, really sad." An urge of happiness hits me hearing all these things about my mommy. "So she was you princess?" I giggled once more at the thought; living in the world of fantasies. "No she wasn't"
A soft laugh escaped his mouth at my muddled expression. "She was my queen. And you" he pointed at me. "You are our princess" My joy and contentment were indescribable at that moment despite the fact that it was just another night for me. "Alright princess, time to bed." He was about to get off the bed when my yelled caused his motion to pause. "Tell me a story."
"I just told you a story Lea."
"No, I want a story of you and mommy." He sighed at my demand, but still obligated. "Alright, a long time ago' before you were born your mummy and I wanted to sneak up into a stranger's house because we got lost. So your mummy dragged me to the house's front door, and started yelling at me like these crazy women in movies." The imagination of my mum yelling caused my little self to smile; it wasn't something my mother would do. "And guess what she did when the owners came out?" I moved my head up to indicate that I don't know the reason. "She slapped me. She slapped me real hard that I yelled from the pain." My burst of laughter didn't stop him from resuming the story. "Eventually both of cracked and the owners kicked us out of their property."
A teared smile covers my face as I reminisce the night of the funeral. Boxes of my childhood photos are covering the floor like a carpet; a peace offering from Rafael for the meeting that I was invited to. Emptiness consumes my soul with every photo I construe. I may have Rafael and Roman but they will never be able to fill the void of my parents. A void that was formed when both of them left me in this hellish life.
I never confessed this to anybody, but at times even now I feel a little spite towards my parents. I mean if you know that you have a titanic foe such as the Claire witches who want to put you in a casket, then give a birth to a child? Why condemned her with a life filled with loss and misery? Why would you selfish enough to not think about the outcomes that would affect this child?
I understand that they wanted a little taste of happiness, but I don't reckon that forcing me to inherit every single enemy from the day I was created is a plus. If anything it's a curse. Which makes me believe Ray's words; I am a curse, I'm a walking curse that is ruining people's lives. And I want it to stop; more than anything, I want to take a break for a moment to actually feel that I'm alive, breathing. But for me that's almost impossible.
Perhaps I will never get my happy ending; perhaps I will eventually be brutally murdered just like my parents, perhaps...
A knock on the door crashes my train of horrendous thoughts. "I'm busy" I call from the living room, but of course my words get ignored as the front door gets opened, and then closed a second later. I hear the footsteps walk through the house until Rafael is standing in front of me as I stay seated at the floor. "I'm not really in the mood for talking"
"I figured." He smirks at me. God, I definitely have something against smirks. Except when it comes to our mate
Shut up!
"But I wanted to see you before I go to meet Nikolai Darfray; I don't know how much my journey is going to take." I mentally slap myself for forgetting about this. All my life I've been waiting for the opportunity to tease Rafael, and when I have it what do I do? I disremember it! But that doesn't mean I won't be doing it now, who knows? Maybe it'll lighten up the ambience. "Darkfray huh, so is he your father or what?" I grin at him, as I make some various assumptions about his answer, or better yet his reaction.
"My..." His face turns red in an instant. "Of course not! He fell in love with that witch about three hundred years ago!" I give him my 'I don't believe you for a second look' which causes for his embarrassing admission. "Okay fine, it was a hundred years ago"
"So he's your grandfather?" He glares at me. "The father of my grandfather actually, and that's why I'm here Malia"
All sense of playfulness disappears the second his eyes glance at the photos on the floor. At first I think that he's going through a moment of grieve. But as time passes my anticipation increases. I'm about to get to check on him when he leans to the floor. "Raf, what is happening? Are you okay? You're scaring me"
He doesn't take a notice of me as he reaches out to pick up a photo. "Rafael you're acting like you just escaped from a mental institute"
"Look at your mother's neck" He hands me the photo. My eyes widen at what I see. I double check it once or twice but it's still there. "In order to find the necklace you must search for a red flower" my dad's hint runs through my mind. "This is it" I say as I start to believe that we just solved the first piece of the conundrum. "This is the necklace."
"I honestly don't know how it never occurred to me. Rose never took the thing off. It would've saved us a lot of trouble."
"The necklace is a flower. I don't understand; why didn't he just write that in the letter, why did he make it sound impossible to find?" rage and excitement overwhelm me; I just found the necklace, it is a red flower...
