Lunar's Curse

19- Home

     “Eyes, open.”

     As if they had a mind of their own, my eyelids opened to see a brilliant, blinding shade of yellow. For a moment, I squinted, trying to remember what it was and when the realization hit me, I sat up and winced. My left arm was bent in a bad angle and it burned.

     “The sun,” I said. It sounded more like a question than anything. Quatan was beside me, the spot above his brow cut for some reason and his blue eyes staring at me with concern.

     “I'd say we landed in a relatively isolated part of the park—where I was taken in the first place.” He continued to speak but I tuned out on him, surveying my surroundings. If I didn't know, I would say that this was a secluded part of the woods in which people smoked here a lot by the appearance of the cigarette butts. But I knew this place. We were off the path in a relatively large park that was close to my school. I usually avoided this place because there were usually thugs gambling here or Ella and her stupid clique were having some “fun” here.

     Ella and her clique. The realization that I was back in my own Realm finally dawned on me. My good hand still gripped the crystal ball. But instead of being crystalline and clear, the surface was filled with foggy red clouds. That was it. We were sitting in the clearing of the park so the sun would be in full strength here. The portal was sealed (for good, hopefully) and the sun would have risen over Seul Âme. And just as the name hit me, another pair of names surfaced:

     Claire and Justine.

     No.

     They were still there. And I was the one who left them behind.

     Tears burst from my eyes and before I knew it, I was sobbing my eyes out, wondering how being in the Light Realm was better than the demonic Realm if I knew that Claire and Justine were there suffering.

* * *

     “Next stop,” Quatan whispered in my ear. We were sitting in the local streetcar with a few other people. My arm still burned but it was one of those times where it hurt so much that I barely felt it anymore. Quatan had said we were going to ride the bus to his stop. He had already (somehow) communicated with his family and apparently, my grandmother was at their mansion (yes, mansion) at the moment. They had been going sick with worry.

     The thought my of grandmother reminded me of my mother. I looked at the small crystal ball in my hand, trying to remember the light sound of her airy voice. I had only met her for a few minutes and yet, it felt like I had known her for a lifetime. The killing blow wasn't soft either.

     We got off the bus and headed up a hill up to a white mansion that was not as foreboding as Xavier's mansion. Still—the sight of it still made me sick. All I could think about was the never ending benign corridors and the horrors that laid within it...

     “I'm not really that rich,” Quatan said, his cheeks a little red. “This actually belongs to my selfish cousin. He's really stuck-up so don't be surprised about that.” Quatan smiled at me, trying to lighten up my mood. “Come on.” He pecked me softly on the cheek. “Things will get better,” he said.

     I could only nod as Quatan pulled me along from the gates and up the hill to the mansion. My grip on the crystal ball tightened. Finally, we reached the grand white doors and Quatan rang the doorbell. I could hear the elegant bell ring and resonate against the walls of the mansion and the door immediately opened.

     A lady with a grey bun tied into a severe elegant bun greeted us. I gasped because I immediately knew who it was: my grandmother. Without her ratty hairstyle, she looked much more...commanding and less insane. “Grandma?” I asked.

     “Oh Myra!” she cried and hugged me tightly. The feeling seemed to be back in my broken arm and I let out a wince as she crushed it. “Your arm!” she exclaimed, pulling away immediately. She looked from Quatan to me. “What exactly happened?”

     “Vampire attack,” Quatan said, wincing. “He came through with us and beat me for a second before the sunlight ate him up.”

     My grandmother nodded, focusing her attention back onto me. “What about your friends? The loud one and the girl with glasses.”

     Again, I felt like breaking down into tears. “They...they didn't... I left them behind.”

     There. I finally said the words but my grandmother didn't seem angry or disappointed in me at all. Quite the opposite, really. She put an arm around my shoulder and led me into the grand entrance hall. “Life is full of sacrifices and unfairness. If Claire and Justine were really meant to come back into the Light Realm, they'll find a way.”

     Letting my thoughts dwell in that line, I smiled and entered the mansion with Quatan behind me. No more full-bred Vampires or wolfen. At least for a while.

* * *

     “Summer school,” I groaned, tossing the brochure at Quatan. I was lying in his lap in our room with the door opened in case his cousin decided to call us out on 'making children'.

     Quatan smirked and threw the brochure on the ground. “Hey, ever think of doing something fun before that?” he asked me, his eyes glinting mischievously. He leaned closer. “With the doors closed?”

     “Hey!” I cried, sitting up and nearly hitting him in process. “Is that what you do in your free time?”

     “Only with the girls I liked,” Quatan replied earnestly. “And girls whom I've seen resist pure Vampire manipulation and fought the Prince.”

     Vampires. That was a touchy topic. Whenever we heard someone mention Vampires or the wolfen, we would both freeze up. That was behind us now. I had skipped the rest of the school year and missed some of my exams which caused the school to say that I 'hadn't finished the course'. Apparently, it seemed that I was in the same classes as Ella. Great.

     It was funny how Ella didn't seem that scary any more now that I had faced Xavier. And every time I mentioned his name to the other students, they couldn't seem to remember who he was. I assumed that it was better this way that he was wiped from existence.

     “Oh shut up,” I said, my cheeks turning red as Quatan leaned forward and placed a peck on my lips. “Let's think seriously.”

     “I am being serious,” he said, walking over to the door and closing it. “A little fun before your summer school starts?”

     I couldn't find the means to resist.