Chapter Three
That old chest again.
Selena sighed as she studied it's intricate gold designs. The old ebony wood was chipped and dusty but that wasn't the reason why she hesitated to touch it. The chest had belonged to her Grandma and Selena had inherited it after her Grandma died. Her hands slowly stroked the cold piece of metal around her neck.
She pulled off the platinum locket around her neck. Her long nails hesitantly loosened the clutch on the memorabilia she had of her family. Inside, were two pictures that made her eyes water and a terrible lump to lodge in her throat. One was a picture of her parents smiling merrily and another of her Grandma Loretta.
She caught the tiny silver key as it fell out and slightly burnt her hand. She struggled to fit the key as her hands suddenly became shaky and sweaty. At last the lock clicked open before she lifted the lid up. Her Grandma's scent hit her first. It was overwhelming and for a second, Selena thought she should just close the chest but she thought of the mysterious deaths of her family. She needed to do this. She needed answers.
Inside the dusty chest was an old book, with golden pages and ancient cursive writing. Beneath that was a wolfsbane necklace wrapped around a dark cloth. The book, however, caught her attention with the bright golden letters. The book had been kept carefully, tied together with golden strings. The title read, The Kresal Kingdom.
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Upon hours of reading, Selena discovered that the Kresal Kingdom was a powerful kingdom in the underworld. It was a striving vampire nation that was also open to a select group of other immortal kinds. But, the kingdom was not very welcoming of werewolves.
The Kresal Kingdom was founded by a King Ambrosio. The book described him as a fair King who drove the kingdom to its highest golden era. She continued reading the book well into the morning, learning almost all about the the Kresal Dynasty. But, that proved to be a harder choice because information in the book was highly limited, as if it had been filtered especially for her.
She finally closed the book and looked through the other things. Covered in a cotton cloth, was a silver blade which she knew was special. It was the Angel's Blade. One of the few weapons in the universe that were truly powerful. It could kill different kinds of immortals with just one stab. Vampires, werewolves, far and many more.
At the crack of dawn, she packed her backpack, nothing big but just enough space for her to put the essential things. She decided she would have to find a snack for the trip. The blood she had drank had gave her half the energy she would normally get from a human. He was dying but he probably didn't know it.
Suddenly, her train of thought travelled to that manly musk-peppermint scent that she was growing to love. She didn't know the owner but she wished she did. Who was he? That was the question that kept playing in her mind. Why couldn't she stop thinking about her mysterious stalker?
She stood at the door of the only place she had ever called home, no matter how cold and isolated it was. The place held bittersweet memories of her life. She could remember all the happy memories of her life there, but most of all, she remembered the dreadful moments. With one last deep breath, Selena left the house and drove away.
It was night but the town was still bustling. Couples walked down he streets hand-in-hand as the smiled at each other. Reckless teenagers roamed the streets in ridiculously torn clothing and black eyeliner. To her they looked ridiculous but deep within, she envied them and their rebellious nature. She had been deprived of her childhood and teenage years, and worst of all, she had no one to blame but herself. After all, everyone she loved had died trying to protect her.
She parked her car in front of a bar, observing everyone in the streets around her. A group of drunk men lousily followed an equally drunk and scared teenage girl. When would men ever learn to leave harmless women alone. Selena took the opportunity, got out of her car and leisurely fixed the collar of her long coat. Her eyes were fixated on the group of middle-aged men who were throwing dirty words at the frightened teenager.
The drunk men cornered the helpless girl, increasing her fear and anxiety. They seemed to be feeding on her cries of help as their laughter drowned down her cries. The town was quite noisey at that time of night but surprisingly, Selena's boots echoed on the tar road as she approached the humans. Immediately, the filthy men averted their attention to her. They visibly listed over her sultry figure. Her eyes darted to the teenage girl.
"Go home, girl." She said loud enough for everyone to hear.
The girl scurried out of the confined space and gave Selena a grateful look before she literally sprinted out of the dark alley. The men immediately brought the lustful eyes back on Selena.
"Hey sexy," one of the man spoke, "Since you chased away our meal. I'm sure you wouldn't mind if we ate you, right?"
The man had dull dirty blonde hair and dark brown eyes. His round pot belly was the only prominent things on him, besides his voice which had made her internally cringe. His friends, equally as round and sweaty as him, began cheering and cat whistling.
"The only person who's going to be doing the eating here will be me." Her response had a double meaning to it but the men didn't seem to catch it.
"Whoa, sugar. You really can't wait to get your sweet claws onto me, can you?"
The first man asked in a voice he must've thought was sexy.
Selena smiled, feeling her fangs elongating, and looked the men dead in the eyes.
"Can't really?"
She said before she pounced on the first man. Her mouth went straight for his folded neck as her fangs dug into his skin. She felt the coppery taste of blood in her mouth and went into a state of hyper energy. Her eyes darted to the two remaining men as they stared at the scene in front of them with widened eyes. Before they could come to their senses, Selena struck again, tackling them both down to the ground and feeding until she felt she was powerful enough. She hadn't killed them though but she had left them bleeding out on the cold tar road.
Selena finally stood up and looked down at the mess she had created. She wiped the remaining blood on her mouth with the back of her hand. She was ready for the underworld and for revenge. She was going to find the people who killed her parents.
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