Eighteen: The price is paid

As the night waned and the moon remained hidden my life was numbered. I could feel the count down falling fast. I can't just give up yet.

"Then what Emma?"

She blinked at me, did she forget I was standing here handcuffed and bleeding? Surely not, her eyes wandered far but she came back immidiately.

"Well, I found another blessing of course."

She straigthened her back and ran her fingers on her hair, it was beautiful sight if you didn't know what she was. Beneath that beautiful face was an evil being lurking and waiting for the right time to strike.

"When I said I paid the price I meant it." Her voice was suddenly mellow, the one she used when she was around me and Dad.

"You killed your own child!"

We both turned to Tristane, he was still hunched over the tree. Too weak to stand due to many injuries.

"And I regret it every day."

"Do you?" He spat back.

"Yes.. the ritual required one simple sacrifice, one's life over mine."

"How could you?!"

"You dare judge me now? Why? Would it bring my unborn child back? If Clayton had not gotten me pregnant, I could've just sacrificed someone else. And I would've disappeared then. Lucian wouldn't have been stuck in a bloody tree."

"He had nothing to do with it! You became Clayton's mistress because you were greedy! Lucian didn't have to suffer."

Now I know why Lucian was desperate to be free, he was innocent from all this. He did not really mean to hurt me.

"Are you serious Krista? Lucian had everything to do with it, if he hadn't fallen inlove with that wench we would've been married. My child was a Norwood and it would look like him, no one will suspect it was his father's. I would've controlled their wealth after I sired an heir. And I wouldn't have to kill someone for that damned ritual!

"You see? It was partly his fault, when the wench died he spent their money into vices. I just couldn't live with it. The blood moon was fast approaching, I finally made my decision. I was going to perform the ritual instead of chasing their money. So I tricked him, made him believe I can bring his lover back.

"It was my idea that he would go to the Alpine Forest. The desperate bastard couldn't wait until nightfall and had paraded boldly infront of many witnesses. Claus followed him and it just made things worst.

"I struck Claus with dark magic, separating them from each other. He was knocked out instantly. Then I caught Lucian alone, vulnerable in the forest. Calling for his lover's name.

"I could've sacrificed him for the ritual but I wanted him to suffer. So I trapped him behind layers of dark magic, to live forever behind the barrier. With no one to speak, touch and love. It was a punishment worth for all the troubles he caused.

"When the night came, I performed the ritual. I lost my child in the process and was terribly weak for days. That's why Lucian was able to appear as a ghost around the manor, but it was all he can do. He was a mere human afterall, powerless, weak and a sorry excuse for a man.

"After I recovered, I strengthened the barrier and Lucian was stuck for good. No more ghost stories of a lonely baron and his mighty horse. I no longer cared for the Norwood's wealth, I found a man who cared for me and gave me daughters. Then I left them."

The story was utterly heartbreaking and hateful. Emma was making excuses for her evil deeds when in fact she was the only one to blame.

"I'm getting tired of your rather boring story telling Emma. And I keep getting back to the question, why are you doing this now?"

Mischief came back on her eyes.

"I did tell you my spell is fading, you did something that allowed him to roam free for a time."

"What do mean? I didn't do anything."

And it was the truth, Lucian just appeared one day and had kept coming back eversince.

"You didn't do it on purpose, I can tell. It was your honest feelings for the man that gave him strength to project himself even from afar. As soon as I detected that the barrier was fading, I knew someone was getting close to setting him free. And you aren't the first one actually."

"What do you mean?"

"Lucian had lured in many before you Krista. Did you really think you were the only woman who ever attempted to free him? Well, you're wrong. He's been trapped for many, many years. And he's been trying with oh, so many women as well."

Its a lie! It has to be!

But she was serious.

Damnation! That hurt! To think Lucian was only using me to gain his freedom was a blow to my very core.

"Do you know how he picked his victims?"

I pierced Emma a deadly glare but she only drank at it.

"He visited them in their dreams. A time when one is most vulnerable, he gave them the best time of their lives. What, I cannot just imagine, a woman could ask from a man such as Lucian and what he was willing to give. He was a great lover, women all over town testified for his libido. No wonder they were drawn, hmm?

"But that, I had no power over. The spells do have their costs, and the barrier would only let me trap his physical form. I don't quite understand how he was able to do it, either."

I wanted to strangle Emma, every word was a stab on an infected wound. If she meant to hurt me, she successful did. She'd revealed what Lucian really was. All those nights of sweet companionship and innocent exchanges were nothing but an illusion.

I was used. How pathetic.

I fell for every promise, embrace, warmth and caress.

Poor Krista. Another victim of the magnificent Lucian.

"Don't listen to her Krista..."

Shit.

Am I hearing things? Or have I gone crazy?

"Its not true. She's just tormenting you. She's a witch, an evil one. She trapped me here and now she's destroying you... you have to believe me, love."

"Shut up!"

Emma stepped back after she was caught off guard by my sudden outburst.

I sank unto my knees and let the tears fall.

"Shut up, Lucian.. shut..up.."

He must've heard me because everything went silent.

Emma's footsteps moved away.

"Well, aren't you just in time?"

I raised my head and stared at Emma, she was facing the tree where Tristane sat next to the candles.

My eyes strayed from her body and peered at the silhoutte beyond.

Oh god. It can't be.

Lucian.

He's back.

I looked up and realised that the moon had appeared again.

It was time.