Chapter 3

His heart pounded in anticipation to tell her how he felt. Damian locks eyes with Celeste desperately trying to express through his gaze what his words failed to express.

"I...need to tell you how I feel"

Celeste raised her head and looked up at him waiting in anticipation to hear what he wanted to say.

"I love...."

Celeste's stomach developed butterflies all of a sudden, her eyes lightened up immediately, and she gazed at him urging him to complete his sentence.

"I would love you to send my regards to your father"

The smile she had on her face vanished, and she felt a sting of disappointment rush through her, she tried to mask it 

"Is that what you wanted to tell me?"

Damian wasn't sure how to answer the question, his heart was saying one thing but his lips said another. He wasn't convinced it was the right time to tell her as she was not in the right frame of mind.

"Yes my lady, please send my regards to him"

Celeste felt like a fool to have expected to hear those words of affirmation from his lips. She managed to give a half-baked smile 

"I'll surely send your regards, I'll take my leave now Damian"

She turned around to leave but felt Damian hold her by the hand

"I would love to escort you, my lady, it's not safe out here by this time"

She looked down at their hands interlocked, these little gestures made her heart flutter but she didn't show it this time, She gently withdrew her hands from his. She hesitated but agreed for him to escort her.

"I would love you to come to the ball this year"

She was speechless and flattered at the same time. She had never attended the ball before, it was held every year at Clawthorne Hall but she never went or more so was not allowed to go. She taught about it for a while and gave her answer. 

"I will think about it"

She said honestly. 

He subtly transformed into his werewolf form, his brown hair formed a thick layer of fur covering his entire body, his fragile human body already morphed into his werewolf form.

The moonlight reflected upon his blue eyes. She couldn't help but wonder what she would look like as a werewolf.

He took steps towards her and lowered his head to the ground

gesturing for her to climb onto his back. She took a step closer and ran her hands through his fur, she liked the feeling. She climbed onto his back and held onto him as tight as possible, he sprinted off but slowly this time like he didn't want to inconvenience her. She kept her eyes open to reveal the view as he ran through the forest. The sight of trees of different kinds and the moon in all its glory. She closed her eyes and inhaled the air gently as it swiped over her subtle skin. Her house was not far from there as they arrived. He lowered his head towards the ground again to help her step down from his back. She motioned a goodbye with her hands as he bolted away and into the forests. She went straight ahead and made her way to her bedroom, releasing the tension that had become her companion for the day, She was welcomed warmly by her mattress. She tried to process what had happened between her and Damian but she just couldn't comprehend. She closed her eyes and tried to get rid of the tension as she surrendered to the allure of sleep. 

"Ah"

"Who are you

She screamed in fear at the top of her voice. She couldn't recognize where she was or what she was doing there. Her gaze darted around searching desperately for any familiar sight to anchor her confusion but all she could see was fog and trees towering around. She gazed upwards and saw a shadowy figure towering over her. The man was adorned with a white garment that looked carefully stitched with golden linen, his wings sprouting from his back. The man looked so angelic yet so malicious. His words were like silent whispers promising doom and anguish 

"The wages of sin is death beloved, you need to be cleansed of evil"

He kept on saying these words over and over again while approaching her slowly, his eyes filled with pure rage. As he approached her she could feel her body freezing with fear, her body trembling reflecting her terror. She was running but didn't know how the man got closer by the minute with each approaching step. She felt like she was walking on quicksand.

She suddenly fell to the ground, her heart pounding with anxiety when she turned around and saw the man standing right in front of her.

She started to lift her body slowly and moved with her body dragging herself desperately seeking survival but it was useless, the man was already facing her, this time he was holding what looked like a staff, the staff was golden in color and looked like royalty, the man pointed her with the staff again and said 

"The wages of sin is death, you have to be cleansed"

The staff he was holding swiftly turned into a golden knife, she wondered how it was possible.

The man stretched the staff towards her and was about to stab her.

She suddenly felt a surge of power rush through her veins, She stretched her hands and grabbed the staff from the man. Her eyes began to glow, and she suddenly felt like she wasn't in control of herself anymore, She stood up like lightning and took the staff away from the man's hands, each strand of her lustrous silver hair began to glow and so did her mouth.

"You shouldn't have the power you cannot handle"

These words were spoken like fire from her mouth, this time the man was the one trying to run away as she pointed the staff toward him.

"Darkness cannot coexist with light, darkness has to go"

She raised the staff and was about to stab it into his chest

"Celeste..., Celwakes wake up"

Rose was in a panic, she tried so desperately to wake Celeste up from what seemed like a trance, Celeste's eyes were glowing in reality, her hair was also glowing and she was speaking strange words.

"Not again, this shouldn't be happening"

She hurriedly rushed to her room and went under her bed, searching for something. She grabbed it from under the bed and placed it in front of her. She quickly opened up the box with shaky hands. She searched the box carefully. She took out an old bottle from the box with a very odd shape and contained some sort of liquid, she also picked some pieces of worn-out paper with strange writings inscribed on it. She picked them up and quickly ran out of the room and went to where Celeste was. Her eyes and hair were still glowing but she wasn't muttering any words anymore.

Rose opened the bottle and sprinkled the liquid on Celeste's face. She held up the paper and carefully read the words from the paper like she didn't want to miss a word from it. She dropped the paper by the side when she was done and held Celeste's hands whispering those same words into her ears, she kept whispering these words till the glow in her eyes dimmed down and her hair came back to normal.

She noticed Celeste was starting to make movements and she quickly picked up the bottle and the papers and rushed back to her room as if she didn't want Celeste to see her, She carefully put the bottle and the papers back into the box and hid it back under her bed.

Gasping for breath, Celeste wakes up abruptly from her nightmare with her body drenched in a cold sweat. Her heart still pounding in her chest, the remnants of her dream still clear in her mind. She seemed to have forgotten the dram but she could still hear the voice as clear as day, ringing in her head.

"The wages of sin is death beloved, you need to be cleansed of evil"

Her thoughts began to run wild, Who was that man and why did he say she had to be cleansed? She had these types of dreams frequently, she only remembers the words but the dream seemed vague like she had forgotten. 

The words of the man sparked a fire in her heart to unravel.