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