~YULIA
“What was that all about?” I asked as Issa drove us home.
He did not reply as he glared ahead of the long road in front of us. I figured that he was not in the mood to talk about it so I settled back into my seat and watched the road.
“That was my past,” he said abruptly as he stopped by a red light. I turned to him to hear more. “My father, before he passed away, made some promises. I was just a young cub back then.”
“And you do not intend to fulfil this promise,” I replied.
I knew the kind of person he was. Issa hated being forced or coerced to do anything against his will. It was part of his Lycan gift and curse.
“I see no point in it,” He replied.
“What was the promise about?” I asked him.
“You remember the war of the black rose?” He asked. I nodded, my interest piqued. “It was not a short war, Yulia, it was a very long war, the longest supernatural conflict to ever occur in the history of werewolves and witches. So many people died, friends, allies, families, it took my parents, and even yours, Yulia.” I could hear the pain and anger in his voice. “And years after it ended, it took my sister, Marianna,” he added.
“Where do the Rasputins come in?” I asked.
“My father promised to accept a female werewolf from their clan to be my bride when the war ended. The Rasputin had the highest numbers of werewolves back then and it really helped in quickly ending the war, but like I said, a lot of people died and I spent the majority of my life grieving,” He said.
“That explains why the twins kept on pestering me to convince you to accept them,” I told him. He moved the car as the light turned green.
“Did they threaten you?” He asked and I could see the tight edge in his voice. I believed that he was ready to kill.
“No, they did not, but they were really desperate, Issa,” I replied.
“You know, I was really going to do it,” He said. “I was this close, but then Marianna was killed and you came into my life, and…” he trailed off.
“Have you found the people behind it?” I asked him. He shook his head.
“I will, tonight,” He said and reached into his pocket with his left hand while the other held the steering wheel. He brought a peculiar object. “The moon key,” He said.
“What does it do?” I asked as I took it from him.
“It can access the past… the last few moments of a person before their death,” He said.
“Is it supposed to do this?” I asked as the key began to pulse with a warm light in my hand.
He looked at my hand for a while and shrugged. “You have the power of light in you, so it makes sense.”
“Nothing about me makes any sense,” I replied as I watched with deep interest as the key glowed warmly in my hands. “It opens the weird silver box, right?”
Issa looked sharply at me with a questioning gaze in his eyes.
“I saw you with it in the closet, I was just pretending to be asleep,” I said with a shrug.
“Yes, it is meant to open the box,” He replied.
Issa slowed down the car as we reached home. The garage doors slid open and he slowly eased the car in. We both got down and eagerly went upstairs to our room. I began to change out of my uniform as Issa went into the closet to get the silver box.
I put on baggy jeans and a back tank top before I went to kneel beside him as he peered curiously at the box. I handed him the key and he inserted it with a soft almost inaudible click on the top of the box.
A line appeared on the top of the box before the covers parted in half to reveal a globe the size of a tennis ball. The globe was perfectly round and transparent and I could feel the magic coming from it grazing lightly on my skin. It was perched perfectly on four small silver rods.
“What now?” I whispered, feeling a bit light headed. Issa reached into his jacket and produced a vial of a thick red liquid.
“What is that?” I asked.
“Her blood,” he answered.
I was about to ask whose blood it was before it dawned on me. It was my mother’s blood. Why did he have it? How did he even get it?
Issa emptied the whole vial on the small globe and I watched the red liquid slowly streak around the round object. It made me sick to watch but I could not take my eyes away because I wanted to know what happened next.
At first nothing happened but the silence and the waiting. Then the blood dissolved into the globe and then it emitted a blinding white light. The light illuminated the whole room and I was surprised that a small object like that could produce something so powerful. I raised my hand to shield my face and then we were no longer in the room anymore.
Dumbfounded, I stood up and looked around.
“Where are we?” I whispered.
“In her last memory,” Issa replied as he stood. It was as if he was waiting for something to happen.
I recognised with shock that we were outside Mom’s house! This was where I lived all my life before she was killed. It was night and the moon shone very bright.
The sound of footsteps and heavy breathing came to my ears and I turned towards the sound.
“No!” I let out a terrified gasp.
It was my mother, limping towards the house as blood covered her whole face. Her left hand had been cut off and the blood heavily dripped from the stump.