THE BLOOD MOON CURSE

CHAPTER 5

CLAIRE FRASER

I wake up, feeling my whole body sweaty, and sit up in bed quickly, hearing when Steve enters the room on alert.

I blink my eyes, realizing it was just a dream.

A dream about the king.

"Are you okay? I heard you screaming...", he says, approaching, and I look at my body.

"I saw him..."

"The king?"

"Yes, he's looking for me, and he won't stop...", I say, tears filling my eyes.

"What did you see, Claire?"

"He wants to use my blood and turn me like him...", I whisper, seeing the horror in Steve’s eyes.

We hear voices, and then Steve walks toward the window.

I wipe my eyes, feeling my body on high alert too.

"What’s happening?"

"It doesn’t seem safe for us to stay here much longer. People might start talking..."

I nod when he hands me an apple to eat.

I pull the hood over my head, hiding my face as we leave the room together.

But as we go down the stairs, my eyes widen when I see men in red cloaks entering the tavern.

They are the guards who wear protection to walk in daylight. They are only summoned when something urgent happens, and they are here for us.

Steve squeezes my hand, looking at me and signaling for me to go back upstairs.

I see the vampires start questioning the people there, scaring them.

We walk back down the hallway, and I feel my body tremble when I hear someone scream.

Vampires are hurting humans in exchange for answers.

"They're going to die...", I whisper, and Steve looks at me seriously.

"I know, and I don’t like it, but we can’t save everyone, Claire. I need to get you out of here now."

I turn my head, hearing things breaking and more screams.

Tears fill my eyes, and then Steve pulls me back into the room before locking the door.

"What are we going to do?"

"We need to think. We need another way out of this place.", he says, analyzing the window.

I blink, starting to hear the sound of heavy boots in the hallway.

They are here.

Steve moves closer to the door, gripping his sword tightly.

"Where are the girl and the werewolf?", the guard shouts at someone outside.

"I don't know... I’ve never seen them..."

"I know they were here! Tell me where they are, or we will take you with us!"

Then, I hear the sound of a sword piercing a body, and I cover my mouth with my hands as Steve signals for silence.

I hear people running in the hallway as if fleeing, and then the vampires continue killing.

"Steve...", I whisper, feeling my tears wetting my face.

He touches my face, knowing what I feel, hearing people die because of me.

"Find the girl and kill the werewolf! She must still be here!"

I almost scream when we feel them pounding against the bedroom door.

"Stay behind me, Claire..."

"What are you going to do?", I whisper, and he raises his sword, his eyes glowing.

"I will kill any vampire who dares to touch you."

I stand behind him, seeing the door being broken down, and then two vampires appear with satisfied smiles.

"Well, well, well. Hiding like a rat, beast?", he says to Steve, who gets ready.

The first one tries to capture me, but Steve is stronger and pushes him back, starting a sword fight.

I feel my back hit the wall behind me.

The other guard runs toward me, and I scream when I feel him grab me.

"You're coming with me. The king is waiting, human!"

"Let me go!", I scream, struggling as I see his sharp fangs.

"Steve!", I scream his name, seeing the moment Steve drives his sword into the other guard, who still doesn’t die.

He throws a dagger in my direction, and I catch it with my trembling hands.

I try to attack the guard, but he grabs my wrist and throws me to the ground with force.

I groan, feeling my head hit hard against the wood and my vision blur.

"Claire!"

I try to get up, but seconds later, the vampire is on top of me, his hands on my neck.

I widen my eyes, trying to break free.

"It’s so amusing to see humans trying to be brave..."

I try to breathe, reaching for the dagger on the ground, but I can’t.

Then the vampire releases me, and I start coughing as Steve throws him against the wall, destroying everything.

"Run, Claire!"

"I’m not leaving without you!"

Then the guard is quick and attacks Steve, throwing him to the ground with force.

Tears fill my eyes, and then, with a single movement, he kicks Steve’s body, making him groan.

I see the vampire press his sword against Steve’s neck while he kneels, held by the enemy.

"No! No!", I scream, crying at the vampire's smile.

An idea comes to my mind, and I grab the dagger from the ground before pressing the sharp blade against my chest.

Steve widens his eyes, and I tremble, looking angrily at the vampire.

"Hurt him, and your king will never have me..."

The vampire is shocked, and then I look at Steve.

One move, and it all ends, but I don’t want to do it.

"Claire..."

The guard doesn’t back down, so I lift my hand, gripping the dagger, and Steve takes advantage of the vampire's distraction to turn and drive his sword into his heart.

I watch him die, and Steve approaches me.

"Are you insane?", he asks, looking at the dagger in my hands.

"I couldn’t let you die..."

He touches my face as if thanking me before grabbing my hand and leading me outside, but we see more guards climbing the stairs.

"The window! Now!"

"What? We’re going to die!"

"Trust me!"

He opens the window, and then I turn my head, seeing the vampire I thought was dead rising and looking angrily at Steve, who has his back turned.

"Steve!"

I scream, and then it happens.

The dagger in my hands strikes the vampire's chest with force.

I widen my eyes, realizing what I have just done at this moment.

Steve looks at me, and I look at my hands, seeing blood.

"I killed a vampire...", I whisper, and he grips my shoulders.

"I know, I felt the same way the first time, but you had to do it..."

Now I have every reason to be killed by the king.

We hear more footsteps, and then Steve looks at me while I wipe my eyes.

"Do you trust me?", I nod my head.

I scream when he grabs my body before throwing us out of the tavern window.

I close my eyes, holding onto his body tightly as we fall, and then I land on top of him.

Steve takes the full impact and protects me.

I open my eyes, meeting the golden pupils of his eyes.

Time seems to stop around us.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes..."

"Let's go..."

We get up and start running through the humans, who look at us curiously.

I turn my head back, seeing the vampire guards searching for us.

My heart is pounding inside my chest as we keep running without stopping.

Then I scream when I feel an intense pain inside my head, and I stop running, touching my forehead.

"Claire?"

"Something is wrong with me..."

I bite my lips to keep from screaming as the same pain pierces through my mind.

I almost fall, but Steve holds me against his body, looking at me with concern.

"Tell me what's happening..."

"My head hurts so much...", I say, feeling the tears wetting my face.

Then I look at Steve, who looks serious and then glances around, searching for something.

"Steve, what is happening to me?", I ask.

"The king is using his psychic powers against you."

"What?"

"He's trying to find you by using pain against you."

I scream again as the pain spreads through my head as if everything is on fire.

"Make it stop, please... please..."

He picks me up, starting to run with me in his arms as I moan and cry at the same time.

"He's trying to get into your mind! Look at me, Claire! Look at me!"

"Resist his control! Listen to my voice!"

I close my eyes, screaming louder as the pain intensifies, and Steve runs faster.

I feel dizzy, and I try to fight against my own mind, which is almost giving in to the king's powers.

"Steve..."

When I open my eyes, I hear his voice.

Not Steve's.

I hear the vampire king's voice.

"Claire... Claire..."

I roll my eyes back, feeling as if he is trying to control my body.

Steve keeps shouting something at me, but I can't hear him.

"Come to me, Claire..."

"Claire! Look at me!"

"Let me in, Claire. Let me show you the truth...", the king whispers inside my mind, and I moan as Steve lays my body down on the grass.

I fix my gaze on the golden pupils of his eyes as he touches my face.

"Focus on my voice, not his, Claire. I'm here..."

"Steve!"

And then everything disappears, and I see the king sitting in a dark room, holding a book and an object in his hands.

The necklace my mother gave me when she died in childbirth.

That was in the cabin before it burned down.

"Claire...", the king whispers, raising his head, and I approach him.

I hear a baby crying, and then I turn, seeing another scene unfold before me like a memory.

I quickly recognize my father, younger, and then I see a baby in his arms.

It’s me.

"It's a girl..."

I blink, feeling tears in my eyes as I see my mother lying on the bed, still alive after my birth.

She was so beautiful.

"Our Claire, our little princess...", she says, smiling.

Then my heart seems to stop inside my chest as I analyze my mother closely.

"No... no...", I whisper.

My mother doesn't look human.

Her skin is as pale as snow, her hair as black as the night, and her eyes...

Red as blood.

A vampire.

"Mom!", I call out, crying, but she doesn't hear me.

My mother was a vampire.

I lift my head, looking at the window in the room where I stand, and then I see the blood moon shining in the sky.

Steve was right.

I was born under the blood moon.

"Now you know the truth, Claire. You come from the curse of the blood moon..."

"You and I are not so different..."

I turn, seeing the king standing before me.

I open my eyes, breathing heavily, seeing Steve pressing my chest repeatedly.

I sit up on the grass, feeling my face wet with tears.

"Steve..."

"Thank God, Claire. I thought you were dead. Your heart stopped beating for several minutes."

I touch my chest, and the pain is no longer there.

The king wanted to show me that.

"I am not what I thought I was all this time...", I whisper, and he looks at me, confused.

"I was born under a blood moon. My father was human, but my mother was a vampire..."

Steve widens his eyes as if he can't believe it.

"Are you sure about this? That should be impossible, Claire..."

"If she was a vampire, what does that make me? What am I, Steve?", I ask, feeling more tears.

"A hybrid..."

That word keeps repeating in my mind over and over again.

I still can’t believe that I might be a hybrid, but I don’t look like a vampire, and thinking about being like the king makes me feel horrible.

"Claire?", Steve calls me, sitting down beside me, and I feel the tears wetting my face again.

I lift my head, meeting his golden gaze filled with compassion—or something more.

"All this time, I grew up believing a lie..."

"Did your father know about this?"

I nod, remembering the scene the king showed me.

"He knew everything. My father fell in love with a vampire; he knew about me, and he never tried to tell me the truth...", I whisper, feeling his hand touch my arm.

"Maybe he was just trying to protect you..."

Maybe Steve is right, my father would do anything to protect me and he died protecting me. But nothing can erase the bad feeling inside me.

I close my eyes, and then I feel Steve’s arms around my body. He hugs me, and I cry on his shoulder.

I’m not crying out of fear or anything like that.

But I’m crying because the thought of being a monster too is unbearable.

I don’t want to be like them; I don’t want to be like the creatures that destroyed my life.

"I grew up hating them, and now I might be one of them..."

Steve looks at me, touching my face and wiping away my tears.

"You don’t look like any of them, Claire. You are the bravest human I’ve ever seen, and nothing will make me believe you’re a monster like them..."

"Look at me...", he whispers, and I do.

"I don’t know what he showed you, but the king will never have you as long as I’m here, do you understand?"

"Why are you doing this? Just to make sure I have the chance to destroy them?"

Steve blinks, furrowing his brows, then sighs, looking at the surrounding forest.

"I swore I wouldn’t let anything happen to another person under my protection. I failed once, Claire. I won’t fail again...", he whispers.

I wipe my eyes, still remembering the sensation of hearing the king’s voice inside my head.

"We still have a long road ahead. We should keep moving now...", he says, offering me his hand, and I accept his help to stand up.

Steve picks up his sword and starts walking again, but then my voice catches his attention.

"Steve?"

He turns his head, and I fight back the tears once more.

“Don't leave me, please...”

A small smile forms on his lips, but there’s no teasing this time.

"You’re not getting rid of me that easily, human..."

And then I smile, still feeling the tears in my eyes.