Lena's POV
Asher lay next to me, his eyes scanning through the whole room. He was no longer the dog I thought he was—at least, not anymore. He looked like an ordinary dog, but there was something that was not right about him.
His amber eyes glowed intensely as if there was a fire behind them. I forced myself not to look at him too much but I couldn't help it. There was an unspoken connection between us now, drawing me in ways I could not comprehend
I pulled the blanket to cover myself, trying to calm the uneasy feeling inside of me but it only just kept getting worse. My breath felt empty like the air was too thick to breathe. ''I'll feel better if I sleep, I told myself.
But immediately as I was about drifting into sleep, I heard a sound that made me jump right up from bed.
Asher's ears sparked in defense, his growl filling the whole room. The sound alone sent a chill running through my spine, but I couldn't look away from the window.
There was a shadow outside that seemed to shift, stretching and bending unnaturally than they should have.
I stood in fear, not being able to feel my legs which felt heavy. All I could hear was the sound of my heartbeat which kept on thundering in my chest. A loud bang at the door made me jump from my bed.
I gasped out of shock, crawling on my knees in order to peep through the door. before I could even make it, the door burst open with enough force to slam against the wall. Two figures stood in the doorway, covered in dark shadows.
Their eyes were glowing with yellow, a sight that sent a chill straight through me. These people were not human. I could feel it in the pit of my stomach.
"Lena."
The man's voice was low, commanding like a gravel being put up against metal. My name sounded strange coming from his lips, like he knew something about me that I didn't.
I began moving backwards, my instincts gnawing at me to find a way to run, to escape this, but there was nowhere to go.
"Who are you?" I choked out, my voice trembling with fear.
They didn't answer right away. One of them just kept coming forward, his eyes looking into mine like he could see right through me. And as he moved closer, I noticed something, there was a faint symbol burned into his palm.
Exactly like the mark on my wrist, but it was more like the twisted version of it, glowing faintly under the dim light.
I tried to run, but the figure was faster. He caught up to me and immediately grabbed my arm roughly, his grip like iron, forcefully pulling me toward him. I cried out in pain, struggling to break free from his grip,but it was no use.
His hand not giving in to all my struggle, I could feel the coldness coming off from him."Let go of me!" I yelled, but my words seemed not to make any difference to him, it was swallowed by the silence in the room.
The second figure stepped forward, an evil smirk forming on his lips. His eyes never locked onto mine. "You're the key, Lena. The one we've been looking for."
The words made no sense to me,all I could think about right now was surviving but fear overtook me in my gut, getting worse with each passing second. I didn't know who these people were, or what they wanted,but it was clear that I was their target and they just found me.
Asher growled, louder now, his ferocious teeth exposed , I turned to look at him, hoping and praying that he would save me, but he was too far away, and the men had me pinned.
"Stay back, mutt," the first man barked at Asher. "This doesn't concern you."
I could barely figure out what he said to Asher before the pain hit. The man twisted my arm behind my back, pulling it until I thought it might snap. All I could feel was the air knocked out from my lungs.
My vision got blinded from the pain, but I could still hear Asher growling, his paws scraping against the floor as he struggled to move. But he couldn't. He was too far away, and the men had me pinned tightly to the floor.
"Please… stop," I begged, my body aching and trembling in pain. The man just laughed mockingly at me instead . "Begging won't save you, girl."
He slammed my head into the wall with such force that I saw stars. My breath got caught in my chest, as I struggled to keep myself from fainting. I could see nothing as my vision got blurry and dizziness crept into me.
The only thing I could focus on was the overwhelming pain and the wicked laughter of the man who slammed me against the wall.
Asher growled again, and I could feel his desperation, he wanted to help me. I heard him bark, his voice rising, but it was useless.
The second man came closer to me,his eyes filled with a dangerous, sick pleasure. He grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him. "You're the one we need. The mark on your wrist ties you to the prophecy.
I did not understand what they were talking about.The mark on my wrist—the one that appeared after that strange incident with Asher—what did it mean?
He spoke yet again, his voice low and dreadful this time "You'll give us what we need. You don't have a choice." With that, he landed a forceful punch right across my face.the punch was so hard it made my vision swim.
My head turned to the other side because of the force the punch carried, and I tasted blood in my mouth.My legs gave out, and the next thing i could see was the ground as i collapsed on it.
"Stop!" I pleaded with them, but it was like my voice didn't matter.
They weren't listening.
The pain was just too much, I tried to move, fight them off,but everything was too much for me to bear.I couldn't breathe, I could not do anything to defend myself, I was at their mercy and they had the key to my life, to decide whether I would die or not.
And then, just as I had accepted my fate and was slipping into unconsciousness, I heard it. A sharp, popping sound followed by a loud whoosh of air. The men froze, their eyes looking towards the door to know who it was.
It was a figure, that of a woman,Tall, with long dark hair that shines bright like silver in the dull light. Her eyes glowed with something paranormal, something dangerous.
"Let her go."
Her voice was commanding, making them retreat and step back. The first man turned to her, irritation clearly visible on his face."You have no place here, witch."
But the woman did not move.She stood there, immediately raising one of her hands, in an instant, the atmosphere changed. A flash of light exploded from her fingertips, and the both of them were thrown back with such force that they slammed onto the walls.
The sound of their bodies hitting the wood was sickening. I barely had time to process what was happening before she headed towards me, kneeling down to face me.
"Are you all right?" she asked, with a low and soft voice but yet still full of power. I couldn't speak. I was still in shock, my body shaking,blood gushing out from my mouth. My vision was blinded by my swollen eyes as I struggled to look at her.
The woman looked at Asher, who was still standing there, with his eyes wide and terrified. "Don't worry," she whispered to me. "They won't be able to hurt you anymore."
She looked at the men on the floor, who were already starting to barely stand on their feets. "You're not welcome here," she said coldly. "And I'm done playing nice."
The men stood in shock as their bodies froze, they looked at her, but their bodies no longer moved. She raised her hand once more, and in an instant, they disappeared,Vanished.
My eyes could not believe what I just saw, my brain trying to process what had just happened. "Who… Who are you?" I whispered, still shaken from what I just witnessed.
She turned to face me, her eyes softening just a little. "Seraphina Moon," she said, her serious and unkind. "And I'm here to keep you safe."
I had a thousand questions to ask her, but the words got stuck in my throat. Trying to decide which one of them to ask first. Seraphina helped me to stand on my feet, her grip gentle but strong.
"We don't have much time," she said,"They'll be back. And next time, they won't be alone." "What do you mean?" I asked, my voice trembling from the thought of what she had just said.
"The prophecy," she said, glancing at me closely. "The mark on your wrist. It's all connected, Lena. You're tied to something much bigger than you realize." Before I could ask her my next question, she said something that kept me in shock, unable to recover.
"The curse cannot be broken without sacrifice.
And then, the last thing I saw was her face before everything went dark.