The Curse Of A Stranger's Gift

He breathed heavily. "He"s no difference to my father. Whatever he showed you earlier is just a trick to fool you."

"But he knows how to get out of my gift. He pushed me, remember? Maybe, he can help me control it."

He snorted. "He"s not someone you can trust. Besides, I"m here. I can help you." He moved a little. In a flash, he"s now sitting beside her. "Are you planning something stupid?" His golden eyes scanned her. It felt as if he could see her soul.

She diverted her gaze while fanning her hands. There"s a sudden warmth boiling from inside her with him so near. She shook it by muttering, "Of course not. Why would I do something like that?"

His light-hearted laugh echoed in the room, making Zheira"s stomach turned upside down. He ruffled her hair. "It"s written in your face, you lying little monster."

A small smile curved her lips. "You bet?" She crossed her arms.

"Nah!" He stood. "You"re old enough to decide on your own. If ever you need something, I"m just in my room."

Her brows puckered. "Is there something wrong."

"You need not worry." It was the last thing he said before he vanished in thin air.

Frowning, she laid on the bed, using her arms as the pillow. Her eyes were set on the glimmering ceiling. It looked like a starry night. At those moments, she wondered how her perfect life crashed into pieces of a puzzle. Of course, she had been filled with various questions while she"s a toddler, but it was easy to ignore those annoying buzzes in her head. The tide has changed, though; she no longer could steer away from the confusions she"d been pondering over the years. What makes her different? Why did she need to be subjected to an implausible ordeal such as this? Were there any chances for her to be happy?

As she tried fitting the puzzle pieces, it became more contradictory. Everything didn"t fit together. They weren"t synchronizing the way it should be. It appears, the more she tries finding answers, the more it became out of reach.

All of these things happened when Vladimir failed to save her sister. The king might have been mad, so he ordered the a.s.sa.s.sination of her parents. Somehow, it didn"t feel right. There"s a missing piece, and she needs to retrieve it.

Breathing heavily, she tiptoed out of her room. Vladimir must not know what she"s up to. He"ll never understand her, anyway. Maybe, if she could control her gift, she"d be capable of sipping the truth from those who tried hiding it from her. She didn"t want to be suspicious, but there"s something Vladimir couldn"t tell her. Whether or not it"s something personal, she desires to decode it.

It wasn"t "till she"s descending from the stairs did she remembered that the guest"s whereabouts have been a top-secret, but there"s no harm in trying.

A maid holding a tray of cups filled with thick red liquid pa.s.sed by her. The maid pretended not to see her, the way they always do whenever they"re pa.s.sing by each other. It made her sick to the guts. She grabbed her wrists. "Do you-Oops!" The tray almost fell with her recklessness. Good thing the maid knew balancing.

The maid"s cheeks reddened, yet, she did not look at her. She kept her pretentious act and it annoyed the s.h.i.t out of Zheira.

"Do you know where the guest is resting?" she whispered, trying all her might to be polite.

"No," the maid mouthed before walking pa.s.sed her.

Of course, she already knows that only the king was aware of the guest"s room. They"re probably hiding, because they didn"t want to be bothered. That settled things. She"d wasted her time believing that the man would want to see her.

In the last staircase, she noticed a curious door. It"s made out of pure metal and was dully engraved with Greek markings. Slowly, she walked towards it. Her heart was beating fast as she drew nearer. She wiped the cold sweats streaming from her forehead, then she looked left and right. The hallway was in unspeakable silence.

"Time to be stupid," she whispered before pushing the door. A gasp issued out of her throat when the surrounding walls and atmosphere became gray, and a sweet smell wafted the air. Meanwhile, the markings started flickering, switching rapidly from one corner to the other until a clicking sound echoed. It didn"t take long before the door blasted open.

Her breathing was quick as she tried peering inside. At first, the only thing she could see was a familiar human-size tube filled with gray-colored liquid. There were also two wide tables wherein the various type of potions and weapons were positioned. It was also gray. Her brow creased. She tried raising her hands and saw to her disbelief, a grayish skin. "What happened? Why did everything lose its color?" she thought.

She moved back when the king tapped something on a small keyboard hanging beside the tubes. He"s also colorless. She clenched her fists. Now she understood the familiarity of the room. It was the same room where Alic met her end. For some reason, she desired nothing but to tear the place apart. She was about to burst inside and reward the king an excruciating pain when Louise showed himself from the corner. His eyes were flickering as he stared at the king.

"What will you do to these hostages?" He pointed out the tubes.

"It"s simple. They"ll have to die." He pushed one last b.u.t.ton, and the liquids from the tube started draining at once.

Zheira gasped. She blinked rapidly, making herself believe that what she saw was nothing but a trick of the light. Yet, it did not disappear. It wasn"t her imagination. There"s no mistaken that slim body. It"s Celestine"s. Tears raced down her cheeks. She couldn"t suppress herself from sobbing. It"s like she"s back in New York, where Celestine was crushed by a car.

The king looked abruptly at her. It was too late for her to hide. His eyes lingered at her direction for a while before he diverted his gaze. Zheira breathed heavily. She didn"t realize she"s been holding her breath for too long.

"Louise," the king snapped, "Close that d.a.m.n door."

Louise"s face screwed. "But I shut it earlier-" He zipped his mouth when the king glared at him. "I"m sorry, your majesty." He bowed a little before he ran towards the door.

For a moment, he stared in the doorway. Zheira"s heart was erratic as he narrowed his eyes. It turned out, he couldn"t see her either. Clearly, she"ll not be standing there for long if they"ve noticed her presence.

Before Louise could close the door, Zheira slipped inside. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and stared instead in the tube. There were eight tubes in total; four to the left and four to the right. All of it was occupied by individuals she knew of. The four men on the right tubes were the victims showed in the show while the two ladies on the left tubes were Celestine and another victim featured in the show.

What caught her attention was the two last tubes in the corner. One of them was the girl who called her a mummy and her Uncle Theodore. She closed her eyes as another series of tears made her vision hazy. Her fist was clenched to the table, urging herself not to collapse.

Louise sat on the table while staring dully at the tubes that have now been drained half of the liquid. "What will happen if that potion drain?"

"They"ll die," the king simply said. "But it"s not yet their time. They need to survive until the blood moon. Only then will she live."

"Who"s she?"

"You ask too many questions, Louise." His feathery voice became sharper.

"Forgive me, your majesty." He looked down, playfully moving his fingers. "By the way, what is your purpose for bringing that mortal here?"

Zheira"s knees wobbled. She knew that it was her he"s referring to. Her eyes wandered to the king, waiting for him to say something.

An evil smile curved the king"s chapped lips. "She"ll be the next sacrifice for the blood moon."

Her breath hitched. Sacrifice? What did that mean? Was she here merely to die? But wasn"t that day would be where she"ll get immortality? Or did Vladimir lied again?

A slurping sound interrupted Zheira"s train of thought. The sound came from the tube who"s now being filled with another gray liquid or so it seemed.

The king sighed heavily. "That"s it. Let"s go for now. Our V.I.P."s needs rest." He beckoned Louise towards the door. The moment it opened, Zheira did not waste more time. It felt as if she"ll vomit the longer she stayed inside that strange room.

When she stepped out, a blast of bright color blinded her. She closed her eyes for a moment, adjusting her vision. The hallway was back to its former glory and so as her skin but not her state. Her knees betrayed her, so her b.u.t.t met the ground. Louise and the king vanished. The metal door had been closed the instant she was outside. What did she saw? It wasn"t a man"s memory. Was it possible she could also read imprint from non-living things?

The wind pressed her deeper to the door. It didn"t take long before Eleanor appeared in front of her. "My, my! Our little Zheira found a dirty secret." Her face was contorted with mockery. "There"s no need for you to be upset, though."

"I-I"m not-" Zheira wasn"t able to finish her statement when Eleanor stuffed a cloth in her mouth. It was releasing a smell that makes her eyelids droop.

"Sleep tight," Eleanor whispered.

Darkness then engulfed Zheira"s entirety.