The Cursed Bloodline
y as it lost its breath. The lines under my grandmother's eyes told me she had been up for hours. She wa
own the edges of the scarlet pages. I d
" it's sch
"Come sit with me for a minute, Mia." Her voice had a more
the chair across from her, and she finally glanced up, h
e faint. "It's time you know
loodline-and I swallowed. As though trying to hold something in place, she closed the book and laid her ha
t tr
to my bones as she told a story that seemed too fantastic to be true. "Lilith, one of our ancestors, was accused of some
e did not understand. They feared her. She w
lief and a strange sense of recog
bloodline."They accused her of dealing with things that no one should and of being a witch. They pursued her when
tightness twisting in my stomach. "So... you'
trying. It's one of the reasons why our family has always been warne
visible fingers brushing against my skin. "And
es dormant until the bloodline... changes. But sometimes it stirs, like an animal
like something was calling me. I thought of the golden eyes, the pull of the
oice barely above a whisper.
ring in her eyes. "Because the curse has reached its strong
m I suppose
ould almost feel my hear
re any urges you may feel." She reached across the table, holding my hand
arning, the call of the forest, was something I couldn't ignore. It was s
I would lie awake every night, resisting the force of the moonlight coming in through my window.
red above me, their branches reaching out like skeletal fingers,
closer, a voice
omised
nding there, her face pale and her eyes har
ndma
to stay away from the forest. Do you consider
, and her tone was sharp
ietly, attempting to explain the pull I couldn
ed, her voice dead silent, "i
just a story. You think you're strong enough to face it. But you have no
ded as I looked into her
face, something I'd n
erself. "But it seems that waiting is no longer an option."
laimed your
ed to drop out
. mot
t, tried to break free, just like you are now
make sense of her words. When I was little, my mother was nowhere to be found.
her?" I demanded
"She adhered to the call and became fully absorbed in it. The
could react, a low, guttural growl reso
filled with horror. "Return to the house. Now." I felt as if I had been plunged into freezi
her?" I demanded,
ed to move. While standing just at the edge of the shado
s narrowed, and the whisper from dee
e one
fur darker than night and a face I recogniz
g back at me-they