THEY FOUND THE ONE
1165 Words
The silver flames around the room suddenly rose higher. Then a strange energy moved beneath her skin, warmed and alive. Then all at once, pain exploded inside her chest.
"AHH!""
Maxine screamed as her red visions spread through her. Images flashed rapidly inside her mind..
In her vision she saw something, like a recorded vision of life from the past.
There is a woman, crying in snow. Blood drips from her wounded arms. And she was holding a baby, wrapped in black cloth, with a red eyes glowing in darkness. Those eyes... was like a fire.
And suddenly she hears a voice whispering: "Protect the last daughter…”
Maxine Ortega collapsed onto the stone floor, gasping heavily. Her tears filled her eyes from fear and confusion.
"What’s that vision all about?”
Suddenly.. a loud growl of wolves echoed above, from that underground cave.There are many voices out there looking for her.
Maxine’s eyes widened.
"There’s a scent down there!” a loud voice followed.
“Someone opened the ruins!” another voice said.
“Find them!”
Panic struck Maxine instantly.
The wolves were coming near the area. And somehow, they knew something had awakened this time.
Underneath, while Maxine is waiting for someone's help.The glowing symbols on the walls suddenly gone, like a normal electric light that was turned off.
But before darkness completely returned, Maxine noticed one final thing carved into the stone beside the table. A crescent moon symbol covered in gold plated silver thorns. Under it, were words written in ancient ink, like a reminder: “The last daughter of the witch shall either save the wolves… or destroy them all.”
Her breathing stopped.
But when she hears a heavy footsteps began approaching above her. Maxine truly felt fear.
"I'm here! help!" she called.
“Someone’s inside that hole!” a voice echoed above the underground, while dirt and small stones continued falling from the open hole above Maxine.
Her breathing became shallow.
Now the wolves found her, they surrounded the whole place now. As they were getting closer. Maxine quickly wiped the tears from her face and forced herself to stand despite the pain in her legs. The strange silver lights around the chamber had already disappeared, but her heart was still racing wildly from everything she had discovered here.
“No… this can’t be real,” she whispered shakily. Knowing that she's a hybrid one. A wolf with the blood of a witch.
Another growl echoed from above.
“Maxine! Are you okay?!” Paul’s voice suddenly shouted.
Relief flooded through her chest. “Paul!” she called.
Several faces appeared above the hole, blocking the weak sunlight from the sky. Paul immediately dropped to his knees near the edge.
“Oh. Goodness! You scared me to death!" he breathed out.
Maxine tried to smile weakly. But then another figure slowly stepped beside Paul. It was tall and broad shoulders, his crimson eyes make her tremble, because the moment Maxine saw him, her stomach twisted instantly.
Jerick Valen.
He is 18 years old, and already treated as the future Alpha of Northern Valley. And the one person she hated and fear the most.
Jerick stared down at her silently from above. His sharp eyes studied every inch of her face carefully, keeping her looks so suspiciously.
Maxine quickly looked away. And to all people around him.
"Why him?" she whispered.
“She looks pathetic,” one of the boys beside Jerick muttered with a laugh.
Another chuckled. “Maybe she fell because her wolf is too weak to balance on a bike.”
Maxine clenched her fists tightly. The mocking laughter hurt, but she was already used to it.
Jerick remained silent.That somehow making her felt more worse.
“Can someone help me out first before you all start insulting me?” she snapped angrily.
Paul immediately grabbed a rope from one of the warriors. “We’re pulling you up.”
Maxine nodded nervously.
As the rope lowered toward her, she accidentally glanced behind her toward the hidden chamber. The silver lights were gone. The candles were dead, as if everything here looked abandoned and ordinary now. But for one second, Maxine wondered if she was just imagining this kind of place. But the strange warmth is still burning beneath her skin, it reminded her, that it was real.
She quickly grabbed the rope.
“Careful now, we will pull the rope slowly." Paul warned.
Several wolves started pulling her upward. On the halfway up, pain shot through her injured arm.
Maxine gasped softly.
The same moment, Jerick’s expression changed. His crimson eyes narrowed sharply. He sniffed the air once again. Then a strange darkness crossed his face.
Maxine’s heartbeat nearly stopped when her eyes landed again on Jerick above.
Did he smell it? No… impossible. I know wolves around could smell that new strange blood.
But they shouldn’t recognize witch blood right?
Maxine secretly studied Jerick's reactions above. But then, the moment she reached the surface of the ground, Paul immediately helped her to stand.
“You’re bleeding,” he said worriedly.
“I’m fine.”
But Jerick suddenly stepped forward. Then Maxine froze.
His tall figure stopped directly in front of her. Even under the sunlight, he looked intimidating, powerful and dangerous.
Jerick had always been respected and feared by all students at school. Not only because he is the future Alpha, but because there was something dark about him. He is known to be cold, and merciless. The analyst officer said, he might be the smartest ruler, the unpredictable one in the future. And for some reason, his attention turns to Maxine now.
"You smell strange,” he said quietly.
Maxine felt her blood run cold. "What?”
Jerick continued staring at her intensely. "Your scent changed.”
Paul frowned. “She literally just fell to the underground. Of course she smells weird.”
The other boys at their age laughed lightly.
But Jerick didn’t laugh. His eyes remained locked on Maxine’s face. Like he was trying to solve a puzzle.
Maxine forced herself to stay calm. “Maybe because I’m covered in dirt and blood.”
For a second, Jerick said nothing. Then finally, he stepped back.
"Maybe,” he answered coldly.
Maxine quietly released her deep breath she had been holding.
Then one of the warriors moved toward the hole. He looked at the underground where Maxine was found, as if he found something in there.
“Should we investigate the underground chamber?”
Maxine’s heart beat nearly stopped.
“No!” she blurted too quickly.
Everyone looked at her. Then she swallowed hard.
“I mean… it’s dangerous. The ground could collapse again.”
Jerick glanced toward the hole thoughtfully. Then his eyes returned to her once more. And somehow, that look terrified her more than the underground chamber itself.
“Seal the area,” Jerick ordered, then the warriors nodded .
Maxine blinked in surprise, and still holding her breath.
- Writer
