Chapter 3 Originated Secrets

I could feel the strange tension in the air when I got home that evening. The whole house seemed so empty as it lost its breath. The lines under my grandmother's eyes told me she had been up for hours. She was seated at the kitchen table with an old book open in front of her. Without getting up, she whispered,

"You're late," as she ran her fingers down the edges of the scarlet pages. I dumped my bags at the door and muttered,

"I'm sorry" it's school stuff.

She nodded absently, and I could tell she didn't believe me. "Come sit with me for a minute, Mia." Her voice had a more serious tone than normal. I sat in the chair across from her,

Her voice had a more serious tone than normal. I sat in the chair across from her, and she finally glanced up, her eyes weighted with sorrow that made my chest tighten.

"Mia," she started, her voice faint. "It's time you know the myth about our family."

The words struck me cold. I remembered what Elias had said-about curses, about something awakening in my bloodline-and I swallowed. As though trying to hold something in place, she closed the book and laid her hands on it. There is a story in our family that has been passed down through the years.hard, bracing myself.

"What truth?"

The story is one of punishment and treachery. When she started talking, my heart pounded, and each word she said went into my bones as she told a story that seemed too fantastic to be true. "Lilith, one of our ancestors, was accused of something terrible many years ago," my grandma recounted, her eyes remote, as if she were seeing everything unfold before her.

"She was endowed in ways that the townspeople did not understand. They feared her. She was blamed for all misfortunes and illnesses."

I leaned in, caught between disbelief and a strange sense of recognition. "So what happened to her?"

"One night, the people turned on her. A part of her would always live on, a curse that would be carried through her bloodline."They accused her of dealing with things that no one should and of being a witch. They pursued her when she made an attempt to flee. During her last moments, she vowed that her spirit would always be tied to her offspring

My grandmother's words left me breathless, a tightness twisting in my stomach. "So... you're saying that Lilith cursed her own family?"

"Not exactly." She sighed, her gaze fixed on the floor. "She wasn't trying. It's one of the reasons why our family has always been warned to stay away from the forest and why we don't go out on full moons."

I felt a touch at the back of my neck, like invisible fingers brushing against my skin. "And what am I supposed to stay away from exactly?"

My grandmother's hand tightened on the book, her knuckles white. "The curse. It lies dormant until the bloodline... changes. But sometimes it stirs, like an animal waking from a long sleep. And when it does, we're forced to face what's inside us."

I thought of the whispers in the woods, the way I'd felt drawn to the forest, like something was calling me. I thought of the golden eyes, the pull of the moonlight, and the feeling of something wild clawing its way to the surface.

"But why now?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. "Why am I feeling this now?"

Her gaze grew even more intense, something like fear flickering in her eyes. "Because the curse has reached its strongest point in you, Mia. And it's beginning to spring forth."

"So, what am I supposed to do now?"

My breath leaped and I could almost feel my heartbeat pounding in my ears.

"Keep your distance from the moon, stay far away from the forest and ignore any urges you may feel." She reached across the table, holding my hand tightly. "Promise me, Mia. Promise you won't go near the woods anymore."

I nodded slowly, but a sense of dread had already settled over me. The yearning, the call of the forest, was something I couldn't ignore. It was stronger than I'd ever felt, like a second heartbeat, deep into my bones.

I spent the following three days in a haze, avoiding Jess' queries and staying away from everyone. I would lie awake every night, resisting the force of the moonlight coming in through my window. However, the more I struggled to get detached, the stronger it became, like an uncontrollable wave.

On Friday, I was drawn back to the forest's edge. The trees towered above me, their branches reaching out like skeletal fingers, inviting me. I didn't remember making the decision to walk here.

As I took a step closer, a voice stopped me cold.

"You promised me, Mia."

I whipped around to find my grandmother standing there, her face pale and her eyes hard. She hadn't followed me-she'd been waiting.

"Grandma, I-"

She held up a hand, silencing me. "I told you to stay away from the forest. Do you consider this a game? Do you believe you are invincible?

Her remarks were furious, and her tone was sharper than I had ever heard.

"I just..." "I just needed to know," I said quietly, attempting to explain the pull I couldn't shake. "I needed to know what's out there."

"What's out there," she replied, her voice dead silent, "is nothing you want to find."

She stepped closer, her countenance unreadable.. "You think this curse is just a story. You think you're strong enough to face it. But you have no idea what it will demand of you, Mia. No idea what it's already cost us."

"Cost us?" My heart pounded as I looked into her eyes. "What do you mean?"

A shadow crossed her face, something I'd never seen before-fear.

"I was going to wait to tell you," she murmured, almost to herself. "But it seems that waiting is no longer an option." She hesitated, then looked up, her gaze piercing through me.

"The curse claimed your mother, Mia."

The ground seemed to drop out from beneath me.

"My... mother?"

"Yes." Her voice shook. "She tried to fight it, tried to break free, just like you are now. But it only led her further into darkness."

I felt as if I had been forced into freezing water, I was just there trying to make sense of her words. When I was little, my mother was nowhere to be found. She was barely a memory to me, just a faint smile in a single faded photograph.

"What happened to her?" I demanded, my voice hoarse.

"She went too far," my grandmother muttered, barely audible. "She adhered to the call and became fully absorbed in it. The same thing will happen to you if you don't take precautions,

Her words suffocated me. But, before I could react, a low, guttural growl resonated from the woods, breaking the calm.

We both froze, staring at the trees' black shadows. "Mia," my grandmother snarled, her voice filled with horror. "Return to the house. Now." I felt as if I had been plunged into freezing water, my mind racing to make sense of her words. When I was little, my mother disappeared.

What happened to her?" I demanded, my voice hoarse.

But something in the darkness shifted, and my body refused to move. While standing just at the edge of the shadows, there was a pair of golden eyes-watching and waiting.

A chill ran down my spine as the eyes narrowed, and the whisper from deep within me returned, sharper, louder:

You're one of us.

And as the figure stepped forward, revealing fur darker than night and a face I recognized all too well, a horrifying truth sank in.

Those eyes staring back at me-they were my mother's.