Chapter 5:More secret
943 Words
My heart stopped for a second.
A bloodwitch.
The words echoed inside my head, refusing to settle. I stared at Zain, waiting for him to say something else, anything else. Maybe he would laugh and tell me it was a joke.Then I realised I have never heard him laugh.Maybe he would tell me I had heard him wrongly. But he didn't. He simply stood there, his eyes fixed on me. The look on his face frightened me,I could hardly read emotions on his face,but now I see fear in them.
I had heard stories about bloodwitches since I was little. Everyone in Evergreen had. Mothers used them to scare children into obedience. Travellers spoke of them in hushed voices whenever they sat around a fire. Old books described them as creatures born from cursed blood,mixed blood, forbidden blood.beings so powerful that entire kingdoms once feared them. They were supposed to be legends. Ancient stories. Fairy tales.
They were not supposed to be real.
Yet the moment Zain spoke those words, every strange thing that had happened in my life came rushing back at once.
The silver hair.
The visions.
The voices.
The strange power that always seemed to awaken whenever my emotions spiraled out of control.
My breathing became uneven. Suddenly the room felt too small. The walls seemed to close around me. The candles flickered softly, throwing long shadows across the strange symbols carved into the walls. For the first time since waking up, I noticed how silent everything was. There were no birds outside. No wind. No sound at all.
Only me and Zain.
Only the truth.
I looked down at my hands. They looked exactly the same as they always had. Pale,trembling,Humans.
But maybe they had never been human.
Maybe that was why Grandma never answered my questions about my mother. Maybe that was why people stared whenever I walked through town. Maybe that was why Mary always looked at me as though I was something she couldn't understand.
My chest tightened painfully.
"No," I whispered.
The word sounded weak.
I shook my head and laughed nervously, but even I could hear how fake it sounded.
"No. Bloodwitches aren't real."
The moment the words left my mouth, I remembered the shadows.
I remembered the creatures crawling toward me.
I remembered hearing them speak.
Blood, fine wine.
My stomach twisted.
Perhaps fairy tales were real after all.
I slowly lifted my gaze back to Zain. He had not moved. He still has fear in his eyes.
Not fear of me.
Fear for me.
That realization unsettled me.
Zain was never afraid.
No matter what happened, he always seemed calm. When I fell from Maximum, he remained calm. When Grandma was angry, he remained calm. Even when those creatures appeared in the darkness, he fought them without hesitation.
Yet now he looked like a man standing on the edge of a cliff.
His hands were clenched tightly at his sides. His jaw was tense. He looked as though he wanted to say something but couldn't force the words out.
The longer I stared at him, the more I realized something.
He wasn't surprised.
Not even a little.
My heart sank.
"You knew."
The words escaped before I could stop them.
Zain lowered his eyes.
That was all the answer I needed.
A sharp pain spread through my chest, but this time it had nothing to do with magic.
It was betrayal.
For years, he had been by my side. Longer than anyone else. Longer than my sisters. Longer than most of my memories. Whenever I was lonely, he was there. Whenever I was scared, he was there.
And all this time he knew.
He knew what I was.
He knew why strange things happened around me.
He knew why Grandma watched me so carefully.
And he never told me.
I felt anger rising inside me. Hot and uncontrollable.
The room suddenly grew colder.
The candles flickered violently.
A strange breeze swept through the cottage even though every window was shut.
Zain's eyes widened.
"My lady," he said quietly.
I ignored him.
My hands were shaking.
"How long?" I asked.
The question came out colder than I intended.
He hesitated.
Too long.
Far too long.
"How long have you known?"The silence stretched between us. Every second felt like another wound.
Finally, he answered.
"Since the day you were born."
The world seemed to stop.
I stared at him.
Unable to speak.
Unable to breathe.
Since the day I was born!!.
All those years. All those lies.
My mind raced through countless memories. Moments that had seemed meaningless before suddenly felt different. Every strange look from Grandma. Every warning from Zain. Every whispered conversation that stopped the moment I entered a room.
They all knew something.
Everyone knew something.
Everyone except me.
Tears burned behind my eyes.
I hated crying.
Especially in front of people.Especially in front of him.
But I could not stop the tears from forming.
For the first time in my life, I felt truly lost.
Not because nobody was around me.
But because everyone around me seemed to know who I was while I remained a stranger to myself.
My voice cracked.
"What else are you hiding from me?"
Zain closed his eyes briefly.
The look on his face told me there was more.
Much more.
Far more than I was prepared to hear.
When he finally opened his eyes again, I saw something that made my stomach drop.
Guilt.
Pure guilt.
And in that moment, I realized the truth I had just learned was only the beginning.
Whatever secret Zain was protecting was far worse than being a bloodwitch.
- Writer
