CHAPTER NINE
1036 Words
CHAPTER NINE - SPILLED SECRET
I wake up choking.
The first thing I feel is wetness beneath me. Cold. Sticky. The second thing is pain so sharp it steals the air from my lungs. When my eyes fly open, the world spins, my vision blurring as the smell of iron fills my senses.
Blood.
My blood.
The sheets beneath me are soaked, darkened with red. My hands tremble as I lift them, staring in horror at the streaks smeared across my skin.
This is wrong.
This is very wrong.
A scream rips out of my throat before I can stop it.
"Ahhh!"
The door flies open almost instantly.
My mother freezes at the threshold, her eyes widening in pure shock. For a heartbeat, she can't move. My father doesn't hesitate. He's already at my bedside, hands gripping my shoulders, his voice sharp with panic.
"Liora!"
"I...I don't know what happened," I whisper, my throat burning. "I just woke up like this."
My mother finds her voice at last.
"Call the wolf doctor!" she shouts, her tone frantic. "Now!"
The room becomes chaos. Servants rush in and out. The air vibrates with magic and fear. I feel exposed, weak, like something inside me has been peeled open.
The wolf doctor arrives quickly, his expression grave as he kneels beside the bed. He examines me without touching at first, his eyes glowing faintly as he studies the blood, the trembling in my body, the way my heartbeat stutters beneath my skin.
After a long moment, he straightens.
"She'll be fine," he says.
My mother exhales shakily. "Fine?" she snaps. "She woke up in her own blood. What caused this?"
The doctor hesitates.
"I believe she's shedding her inner skin."
The room goes silent.
"What?" my mother asks, disbelief sharp in her voice.
Before the doctor can explain, the temperature drops.
A familiar presence fills the room, heavy and ancient.
Elder Mirena steps forward from the shadows.
"Queen Serapha has placed a blood tether on her," Mirena says calmly, though her eyes burn with warning. "She's trying to force the awakening."
My stomach twists.
"Force… what awakening?" my father asks, his jaw tightening.
"She's trying to unleash Liora's vampire side," Mirena replies. "She wants the prophecy fulfilled faster than fate intended."
My mother's hands curl into fists.
"So this transformation," she says slowly, "it isn't natural?"
"I'm afraid not," Mirena answers. "It's being pushed. Torn open."
I swallow hard, pain pulsing through my veins like fire.
"So what happens now?" my father asks.
Mirena meets his gaze. "She either bows to the Blood Empress… or she fights her."
A chill crawls up my spine.
My father turns instantly, his voice thunderous. "Increase security. Every guard. Every knight. Lock down the estate, especially my daughter's room."
The words are barely out of his mouth when a strange sound reaches us.
High-pitched.
Shrill.
Bat squeaks.
In the daytime?
My blood runs cold.
Before anyone can react, a voice echoes from downstairs.
"Hello?"
My heart stops.
No.
That voice..
It can't be.
If I wasn't dizzy, if my head wasn't pounding, I would swear it sounds exactly like...
"Liam?" I whisper.
My father's head snaps toward the door.
"You stay here," he orders.
"I'm coming," I say immediately, throwing off the sheets despite the dizziness. "You're not hurting him."
He doesn't argue. That scares me more than anything.
We move downstairs just as the front doors close behind a familiar figure.
Liam stands in our living room.
Alive. Human. Completely unaware of the storm he just walked into.
My father stops in front of him, his presence alone enough to crush weaker men.
"Didn't I warn you," my father says calmly, dangerously calm, "never to step into my home unless invited?"
"Duty calls, sir," Liam replies evenly.
My chest tightens.
"What… duty?" I ask, my voice barely steady.
Liam turns toward me, relief flickering across his face before concern replaces it.
"There's a massive supernatural disturbance here," he says. "And when I say massive, I mean millions. You all need to leave. Now."
I almost laugh.
If only he knew.
Before anyone can answer, the windows shatter inward.
Bats flood the room, dozens, then hundreds, swirling like living smoke.
The lights flicker.
The air bends.
And then she appears.
Queen Serapha steps out of the darkness like a nightmare given form, her crimson eyes glowing, her presence suffocating.
Liam stiffens.
"What… are you?" he asks in awe and horror.
"Stay back," my father commands sharply.
Queen Serapha smiles slowly, her gaze sliding to me.
"Oh," she purrs. "So this is the human boy you're in love with."
"What?" my mother snaps, shooting me a look that could burn through stone.
"How does she...." I whisper, breath hitching.
"We are bound now, my dear," Serapha says sweetly. "Blood remembers blood."
Before anyone can react, Liam moves.
Fast.
Too fast for a human.
He leaps, casting a shimmering net that slams into Serapha, glowing with hunter runes. She crashes to the floor, hissing as the magic drains her strength.
But then....
Pain explodes inside me.
I scream as my legs give out, collapsing to the floor like the net has wrapped around me too.
"No!" my mother cries, rushing to my side.
Queen Serapha laughs.
"What's happening?" my father demands.
Liam looks between us, confused. "The net....it should only affect her."
Liam pulls out a shocker and fires.
Electric pain rips through my body.
"Stop!" I scream. "Please....stop!"
My father roars, ripping the weapon from Liam's hand.
The pack rushes in, but every blow against Serapha sends agony through me.
"Enough!" my mother screams.
Queen Serapha smiles through the pain.
"I'm bound to her now," she says softly. "Hurt me, and she feels it And you wouldn't want to hurt your daughter would you?" she said looking at my mom.
"How could you do this to your own grandchild?" My mom asked in tears..
"Grandchild?" Liam repeats slowly.
Silence.
"Wait," he whispers. "Liora is a vampire?"
My world shatters.
"No," he says, backing away. "You're all..."
Hunter eyes lock on me.
Fear.
Betrayal.
Truth.
And just like that, every secret I've carried my whole life spills into the open.
And the war truly begins.
- Writer
