A bright white light flashed in front of his face the next second Nicolai was standing by a frozen lake. In front of him was a huge cedar tree, all lush and green gently swaying in the cold wind.
"What the...." he glanced around. This place looked very familiar. 'I have definitely seen this tree before…..'
He turned back slowly. There it was. His father's castle stood there majestic. The wall and the decor looked brand new and even the windows looked well cleaned, unlike what he was used to seeing.
Nico stumbled back in shock. "How... did I get here..."
His mind could not comprehend what was going on. One minute he was writing down the spell and uttering those Latin words and the next minute he was at his old home.
'I…. I am home… it's unbelievable…'
He gently fisted a bit of the fresh snow. His hands were freezing in just a few seconds. it all felt real.
Nico shot up and ran towards the castle.
He ran, and he ran and he ran…
But the more he ran, the distant it became. Panting, he stopped running towards the house.
"Why can't I get close to it...."
Suddenly, he heard a small screeching sound of ice. a person was giggling softly.
Nico instantly ran out from behind the cedar tree towards the frozen river. A young girl was skating on the frozen lake. Her black curly hair bounced beautifully behind her, her soft giggle was like that of a wind chime.
'This girl might know where I am..' he stepped forward and stood at the edge of the lake.
"Hey!" he called out to her.
The young girl stopped, giving him a glance.
Seeing her face, Nico was in complete shock. This girl's face was very familiar to him. In fact, this was the face he woke up to every night, the picture he saw every morning. It was his mother, Eloise.
She was wearing a long red cape that hid half of her face.
"Why are you peaking at me you pervert?" she shouted with a feisty glare.
"m-mum..." he mumbled, running to her.
His mother started to slide away from him. "' stop where you are. I.. I'm telling you I'm a witch. I'll curse you. I'll curse you to death if you come any closer,"
"mum it's me. it's Nico. Your Nico."
Only after saying this did he realize something. His mother looked young about eighteen or nineteen years old. She still had her baby fat on her cheeks. The woman he remembered had a slim beautiful face.
'Is this my mother's younger self…. is she a ghost… who forgot everything…'
His mother had never seen him in his adult form. She had passed away when he was just a three year old.
"I can't believe it... I never thought I will get to see you. I missed you so much, mum. Dad misses you, too. he used to look at your photo every day. He is crazy about you," he whispered with tears in his eyes.
The young girl just looked at him, all confused. "I think you have mistaken me with someone else. I'm Eloise. I'm not your mother. I never had a kid,"
"No, I am your son. I'm Nicolai. You named me yourself. Don't you remember? Oh shit, I kind of forgot that you don't…. but I believe you can remember if you try your best." He whispered hopefully.
The young girl just glanced at him up and down. "Crazy guy. I'll ask my mother to heal your stupid brain of yours. Drop by my house tomorrow. Only she can heal you. I still don't have control over my powers," she mumbled, removing her gloves.
"I'm not crazy.... mum, you had me when you were twenty-two. You and dad stayed in the eastern coven under the safety of elders, but one day..."
"Wait wait, what the heck? I'm just eighteen. I'm not that old. Do I look that old?" she consciously touched her cheeks.
"No, you look good,"
"Thanks," she gave him a genuine smirk. "Listen, lad, I get that you are disturbed in your mind. You need to talk to my mother. She's an amazing witch. She can help you in no time,"
"A witch... my grandmother is a witch? Is that why Avery called me a witch.. Maybe I carried a bit of that witch blood. You're obviously human, so I guess it skipped a generation."
"Whoa, I'm a witch. Who said I'm human, huh? Don't you feel my powers? Don't you? I'm the most powerful witch in all of arctic tribe. Even the alpha bows down to my greatness. Just that I have no control over it. But I swear I will get better when In time,
Nico stood there shell-shocked. "'you're a witch... that can't be... how can you be a witch? Dad said you were a human.."
"Okay, who is this dad guy you talk about? Hmm. take me to him. I'll punch his guts for talking so much shit about me."
His mother kept scatting threateningly close. "Who is he?"
Nico had to step back a little until his back hit the cedar tree.
"Elder Kieran is my dad, and your husband."
"Huh? I would never marry a guy named Kieran. That's a stupid name."
Nico pouted. "It's a nice name.. What's wrong with his name?"
"It's tacky and old school," she said flipping her hair behind.
"Of course it is. He is a thousand years old. His name is out of date, that's for sure, but dad said you fell in love with him at first sight and you thought his name was cute. Not sure if he was boasting though..." Nico mumbled.
Suddenly, the girl froze. "What did you say?"
"I said he is thousand so his name is out of.."
"No, he's thousand years old?... you're saying ill marry a vampire?" the girl burst out laughing. "Don't be ridiculous. I will marry a wolf and settle down in the arctic tribe. Why would I marry a vampire..."
"But you will," Nico said firmly.
He was not sure what was going on. Either his mum was a ghost who lost all of her memories after eighteen or... he was in a weird dream.
Even so, he wanted to make sure he was very precise with his information. "You will fall in love with him and have me. I'm your dear son Nicolai. That name sounds tacky too, but you chose it."
The young girl looked at him with contempt. "There are no vampires in this town. How can I even meet and fall in love with this person."
Nico pointed to the castle behind. "He lives there."
"The old castle? It's been abandoned for a very long time," Eloise moved to the side taking a good look at the house. The huge balcony was seen so clearly even in this snowy terrain. "It's all nonsense." She glanced at her side.
To her surprise, the young man had disappeared.
"Nicolai? Hey, did you just run away? You still need to get treated,"' she shouted.
All of a sudden she heard a small crackling sound. The cedar tree started to dry out right in front of her eyes. The leaves all fell off and only the black dried-out branches stood there.
Eloise moved away from it. This was not a normal scenario. Trees don't just age in seconds.. Something was wrong; it was as if a spell altered its form.
"I.. I need to talk to mum,"
As she was running, she noticed a pale young man standing on the balcony peering at her.
"Witch! did you just kill my tree?" the man said in a commanding tone.
Eloise stood there looking t him in awe. The man's hair was straight black hair that came to the back of the neck. He had a strong-looking body, and a very handsome face. 'Wow who is this handsome guy..' she thought, looking at him.
"... who are you?"
"Kieran, the new ambassador of vampires. You better stay right there. You have to pay for killing my tree,"'