Chapter 2:Golden Eyes
1186 Words
Scarlett's body hit the marble floor hard as her legs gave out. The moonlight pouring through the gallery's glass roof felt like fire on her skin.
"Make it stop!" she screamed, curling into a ball. Her toenails had grown into sharp points, and her teeth felt too big for her mouth.
Magnus rushed to her side, the blue stone glowing brighter in his hand. "Take it, Scarlett. You have to take it now!"
She shook her head, trying to crawl away from him. "What's happening to me?"
"The change is starting. You're not just human, Scarlett. You never were." Magnus knelt beside her, his strange eyes—one blue, one gold—filled with worry. "The moonstone will help you control it."
Another wave of pain shot through her body. Scarlett felt her bones trying to shift and break. Images flashed through her mind: running through trees, howling at the moon, hunting with a pack of wolves.
"I'm not a werewolf," she gasped. "That's crazy!"
"Then how do you explain this?" Magnus held up his phone. On the screen was a video of Scarlett from the security cams. As she watched, her eyes in the video glowed bright gold, just like the wolf in the picture.
She reached for the blue stone. The moment her fingers touched it, the pain faded. A cool feeling spread through her body, and her nails slowly returned to normal.
"What is this thing?" she asked, holding the stone tightly.
"A piece of your soul," Magnus repeated. "From the first time you died."
Scarlett laughed, though nothing felt funny. "People don't just die and come back."
"You have. Seventeen times." Magnus helped her to her feet. "Always on a blood moon. Always at 27 years old. Always with him watching."
"Who?"
"Jericho Bloodworth. The silver wolf in the painting." Magnus's voice hardened. "He's killed you in every life, and he'll try again soon."
Scarlett's head was spinning. This couldn't be real. Yet the stone in her hand hummed with energy that felt somehow familiar.
"Come with me," Magnus said. "I need to show you something else."
He led her back to the hidden room with the wolf picture. Now that the stone was relaxing her, Scarlett could look at it more clearly. The red wolf with her face seemed to watch her moves.
Magnus touched the frame of the painting, and the wall behind it slid open, showing a staircase going down.
"The gallery has secret rooms?" Scarlett asked.
"I built this place to protect you," Magnus said. "Every brick, every security camera, every lock—all designed to keep you safe until you remembered."
The stairs led to a large underground room filled with paintings, all covered with velvet cloths. At the middle stood a table with an old book and more blue stones like the one she was holding.
"What are these?" She pointed at the covered works.
"Your past lives," Magnus said. "I've been collecting them for centuries."
Scarlett frowned. "You said I died seventeen times. That would make you—"
"Over three hundred years old, yes."
"That's impossible."
"So is turning into a wolf, but your nails just did a pretty good job of trying." Magnus pulled the cover off one picture.
It showed a woman in old-fashioned clothes from maybe the 1950s. She had Scarlett's face but with black hair. She was standing at an easel, drawing.
"This was you in 1956. Sophia Williams. You were an artist then too."
He moved to another picture and uncovered it. This one showed the same face but with blonde hair, wearing clothes from the 1800s.
"Emma Blackwood, 1872. You were a nurse during the Civil War."
Scarlett felt dizzy again. "This is crazy. How can I be all these people?"
"Not all at once. Your soul is reborn each time." Magnus softly took her hand. "But this time is different. Your blackouts, your memory problems—they're signs that you're remembering your past lives. It's never happened before."
When their hands touched, Scarlett gasped as images flashed through her mind:
A forest area lit by moonlight. Magnus—no, someone who looked like Magnus but rougher, with longer hair and ritual scars on his chest—holding her close. His lips on hers. The howl of dogs in the distance. Blood on snow. A knife. Pain.
She jerked her hand away. "I saw you! But different. And we were..."
"Together," Magnus finished. "That was Damon Silverclaw, my first life. And you were Luna Ravenclaw."
Scarlett's phone buzzed in her pocket. The battery had somehow refilled. The screen showed a news alert: "Rare blood moon lunar eclipse tonight."
As she read it, the blue stone in her hand began to pulse with light.
"It's starting," Magnus whispered. "Earlier than I expected."
"What's starting?"
"The convergence. When past and present align." He pointed to the book on the table. "Everything is recorded in there. All the cycles, all the deaths. And how to break the curse."
Scarlett picked up the book. The moment she touched it, the stone in her other hand flared with blinding light.
"Magnus!" she screamed as pain shot through her body again.
He grabbed her shoulders. "Listen to me, Scarlett. When you wake up, you'll be in Luna's body in 1723. Find Damon Silverclaw. Tell him 'the moonstone bridges time.' He'll protect you."
"I don't understand!" Tears streamed down her face as the pain grew worse.
"The real you has been split across time," Magnus said quickly. "Only by living both lives can you become whole again. But be careful—Jericho will be hunting you in both timelines."
The room around them began to fade. Scarlett felt like she was falling.
"How do I get back?" she cried.
"The moonstone connects us," Magnus's voice sounded far away now. "But Scarlett, whatever you do, don't trust—"
His voice cut off as everything went black.
Scarlett opened her eyes to find herself lying on the ground in a forest area. Her clothes were different—a long dress that felt heavy and strange. Her hands looked the same but felt different somehow. Stronger.
She sat up, her head spinning. The moon above was full and blood-red.
"She's awake," a woman's voice said.
Scarlett turned to see a beautiful woman with quicksilver eyes watching her from the edge of the trees.
"The ritual worked, then," the woman continued, stepping closer. "Welcome back, Luna. Or should I call you Scarlett now?"
"Who are you?" Scarlett asked, her voice sounding different to her own ears.
The woman smiled. "I'm Valeria. Your sister."
Before Scarlett could answer, howls erupted from all around them. Not faraway, but close. Very close.
"They've found us," Valeria said, her face changing, becoming more wolf-like. "Run!"
Scarlett scrambled to her feet as dark shapes emerged from the trees. Wolves. Massive dogs with glowing eyes.
At their head was a silver dog the size of a horse. It looked straight at Scarlett, its eyes filled with hatred.
"Jericho," Scarlett whispered, though she had no idea how she knew the name.
The silver wolf lunged.
- Writer
