For days, Annabelle remained inside her home, locked up and hidden from everyone else. She ate nothing. She drank nothing. A part of her hoped Riftan would come to find her, and explain what she already knew.
Riftan never showed up, and she gradually slipped into a deep state of depression. Her heart was shattered totally. Her eyes were red rimmed and swollen from crying every night. She lost her colour and turned pale, dark circles surrounding her eyes. For her, her world was over.
And then one morning, as she forced herself to eat for the sake of her baby, she heard the sound of growling and snarling. Explosions sounded from afar and shook the earth, and as if on cue, an urgent knock sounded on the door, followed by a loud shout.
"Anne Hale! You must come out now"
Annabelle rushed towards the door, almost falling over from dizziness. She grasped the doorknob and yanked it open.
Salvador recoiled at her ashen appearance and took a step back. He was one of the pure blooded Sorcerers and it could be seen in the bright purple hair and eyes he possessed.
"Anne...what has happened to you?",he asked in surprise. A loud explosion landed close by, raising broken earth and shattering the ground.
Annabelle quickly pulled him into the house and shut the door. She flicked her hands and an invisible forcefield bloomed out and circled the house, protecting it from the explosions.
"What's happening?",she asked, raising her voice above the explosions that landed around the house, away from the protection she erected.
"What happened to you?",Salvador asked again. He had never seen Annabelle in such a deathly state and it worried him. Annabelle was the most powerful Sorceress and to see her in such state was alarming.
Instead of answering him, Annabelle frowned and snapped her fingers. Suddenly her appearance changed. The dark circles disappeared, her eyes that were red rimmed and swollen cleared up and her colour returned. Another explosion shook the earth and the ground began to tremble.
"Will you forget about my appearance and tell me what's going on?",she snapped angrily.
"War with the lycans! They're wiping us out",Salvador finally broke the news just as the shield protecting her home cracked under another heavy explosion.
"War? But why?"
"The Alpha King's sister has been murdered", Salvador broke the news just as the shield protecting the house crumbled.
"What?",Annabelle shrieked.
"Where have you been all these days?", Salvador asked as he took Annabelle's hand in his and dragged her outside just as the house collapsed. The air was filled with the smell of burning and ashes.
"Something happened with the Vampire Lord and the Alpha princess",Salvador explained as they began to run. "The brother to the Vampire Lord murdered Alpha Belinda's mate..."
"Why?",Annabelle shouted over the sound of explosions.
"Because he was obsessed with her. And in rage, Alpha Belinda killed him",Salvador continued. "To avenge his brother's death, Lord Brandon and his entire nest attacked the Alpha's territory and murdered innocent people. He killed Alpha Belinda..."
They were now close to the war ground and Annabelle could see the bloody battle unfolding. She had been so occupied with what Riftan did to her that she became oblivious to everything else. So the Alpha's sister was dead? It was really bad, because she knew Alpha Riven would go mad with rage.
But there was something strange. The shifters weren't at war with the vampires. They were at war with the Sorcerers and Sorceresses, cutting them down like animals.
"Why are they at war with us? We didn't murder the Alpha princess",she shouted over the sound of roars.
"They plan to annihilate us",Salvador shouted back and used his magic to defend both of them from the attack of an enraged lycan.
"WHAT? WHY?",Annabelle screamed.
"The Sorcerers betrayed the Alpha. They supplied the silver weapons to the Vampire Lord!".
"What silver weapons?",Annabelle yelled, trying to defend herself from the numerous lycans.
"The weapons the Vampire Lord used in murdering the Alpha princess!",Salvador shouted just as a lycan pounced on him and ripped him apart.
...
A young woman was seen pushing a row boat towards the ocean. She quickly got into the boat and began to paddle. She had a hooded cloak around her body, hiding her appearance. Behind her, far into the distance, she could hear the sound of a bloody battle as the shifters finished off every last one of the Sorcerers and Sorceresses.
She was the only one left. And she was running for her life.
Annabelle didn't hold any grudge against the lycanthropes for annihilating her people. Just as she didn't stay back to fight against the shifters. Call her a betrayer or a backstabber, she didn't care. She wasn't going to risk her life for something she had no hand in. The Sorcerers should have known what they would face for commiting treason against the Supreme Alpha. Supplying the weapons that the vampires used against the lycanthropes was a terrible crime, one that warranted death.
Apart from running from her life, she also had her child to think of. She was still terribly hurt from Riftan's betrayal, but she had resigned herself to fate. Riftan would never belong to her. He was mated to someone else, and she cursed the mate bond bitterly.
She would take her child away from the island and keep the child's true identity a secret. Growing up in the human world, no one would suspect a thing. And maybe one day, hopefully, they would return to the Island.
Goodbye Riftan, she said within her. She would never see him again.
...
The human world
Ten months later...
"What are you doing here Anne? How did you find me?",Maria asked as she glared at her step sister. Annabelle held a tiny bundle in her hand and was leaning against the door post. She had used her magic to change her appearance and make herself look sick and pale, hoping Maria would take pity on her.
"Please Maria",she whispered. "You're the only one I have left". Since Maria and her husband were among the witches that escaped to the human world, Annabelle had no one else to turn to. She couldn't keep her new born daughter with her. The baby had to be kept a secret.
"What do you want?",Maria asked again.
Annabelle stretched out the tiny bundle she held and showed the baby to Maria. "Take her, please. I don't think I have much time left to live. I feel my power draining slowly".
Seeing the dark hair of the baby, Maria assumed the baby was human and she snorted mockingly and folded her hands.
"A human baby",she said. "Don't tell me you got knocked up by a bloody human"
Annabelle bowed her head, hoping Maria would take her silence as an affirmative. She couldn't reveal her relationship with Riftan. There were just so many secrets, and she had to keep them all hidden.
Deceiving Maria was the best option.
Maria actually believed that Annabelle had a fling with a human, that resulted in the baby. She wanted to be refuse the baby, but she suddenly changed her mind.
So Maria accepted the little baby, not even bothering to ask why Annabelle couldn't take care of her child herself. Her eyes glittered strangely as she looked down at the sleeping baby.
"Her name is Layla",Annabelle whispered. It broke her heart a million times to part with her baby, and she cried her heart out. Yet, she knew she was doing the right thing. This way, her child would be safe and no creature would ever find out about Layla being a tribrid.
...
Five years later...
Layla grew up seeing Maria as her mother until the day Maria couldn't take it anymore. The hatred she had for her step sister began to possess her, and she transfered her anger and hatred to little Layla.
She grabbed Layla one faithful day and shoved the girl into the basement.
"Mother...",Layla whimpered and began to cry.
"I'm not your mother, you child of the rape!", Maria said viciously. "Your mother is dead, and it's because of you. Your days of living freely are over. Now begins your torture"
And she slammed the door shut, locking the young Layla in the basement.
And that was how Layla's abuse began.
...
Author's Note
Hello readers❤️
I hope you're enjoying the book. And I'm sure you understand Layla's past now. We will get back to the main story from the next chapter. If you have questions, feel free to drop it in the comment section. I promise to answer you. Thanks for the continuous voting and support❤️
BellaCupid